Pierre Corneille 
The Illusion 

“The most lavish and picturesque special effects are what come out of the mouths of the people onstage…Mr. Kushner makes words sing, swoon and somersault as no other living American playwright does.” –Ben Brantley,
New York Times



“Rapture comes naturally to playwright Tony Kushner, and in
The Illusion, he plants a big swoony kiss on the lips of the theater.” –Nelson Pressley,
Washington Post



“[
The Illusion] certainly has the stamp of Kushner’s delight in language. This is a modern interpretation, filled with energy, colour and humour.” –
Telegraph (UK)



“Fantastical tribute to the magic of theater…You may resist its charms at first, but soon enough you soften and, intoxicated by Kushner’s language and swayed by the music of his ideas, you submit to
The Illusion’s ravishments.” –
Time Out New York





Tony Kushner’s adaptation of
The Illusion triumphs as a thoroughly modern rendering of Pierre Corneille’s neoclassical French comedy while featuring the exquisite wordplay, beguiling comedy and fierce intelligence found in all of Kushner’s work. An enchanting argument for the power of theatrical imagination over reality,
The Illusion weaves obsession and caprice, romance and murder, fact and fiction, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion of all—love.

A propos de l’auteur

Tony Kushner’s plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille’s The Illusion, Ansky’s The Dybbuk, Brecht’s The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe’s Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children’s opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.