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Breakdown
INCIDENT AT VICHY: Celebrating the Centennial of Arthur Miller’s birth, Incident at Vichy returns the work of the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright to Signature for the first time since his 1997-98 Residency. In Vichy, France at the height of World War II, nine men and a boy are rounded up under suspicious circumstances. As ominous reports of far-off camps and cattle cars packed with prisoners begin to circulate, the men battle over politics, philosophy and how to escape. Longtime Signature director Michael Wilson (Horton Foote’s The Old Friends and The Orphans’ Home Cycle) helms this haunting examination of the cold, bureaucratic efficiency of evil—and the shared humanity that might overcome it.
Incident at Vichy had its original Broadway premiere in 1964, its London premiere in 1966, and its television premiere in 1973.
SEEKING:
LEDUC
(played on Broadway by Joe Wiseman, in London by Anthony Quayle, on television by Harris Yulin)
Male, mid 30s-mid 50s. French, a psychiatrist and officer in the French army who’s been in combat. Highly intelligent and perceptive as to the psychology and motivations of others. Confident, forceful, decisive, and clear-eyed, quickly understands the nature of their situation and enemy, and doesn’t suffer from some of the delusions that the others do.
VON BERG
(played in London by Alec Guiness, on television by Richard Jordan)
Male, mid 30s-mid 50s. An Austrian prince, Catholic. Privileged, refined, well-educated, well-spoken, highly values art and beauty. Apolitical, but deeply sensitive, compassionate. Haunted by what’s happening to the world, but feels entirely impotent to affect it despite his status. Easily shaken, deflated.
MAJOR
(played on Broadway by Hal Holbrook)
Male, late 20s-late 30s. An officer in the German army who has been assigned to this post recently after being wounded in battle. Wan but well-built, he walks with a slight limp, and there is something ill about him. He is horrified to be part of this operation but feels absolutely hopeless to stop it, and his crisis of conscience sends him into near-madness.
MONCEAU
(played on television by Rene Auberjonois)
Male, late 20s-early 40s. French, an actor. Bright-eyed and cheerful, with rather elegant posture, his once stylish clothes are now frayed. A staunch optimist who cannot reconcile the current, horrific reality with his world view, and finds it inconceivable that Germans, whom he’s experienced as deeply sensitive people, could commit the atrocities of which they’re accused.
LEBEAU
Male, mid 20s-early 30s. French. a painter. Bearded, unkempt, hungry, a bohemian with a contempt for the bourgeoisie. Charged with the energy of fear, and it makes him seem aggressive, volatile, and restless, manifesting itself in outbursts of rueful humor and terror.
BAYARD
Male, mid 20s-early 30s. French, an electrician. Poorly but cleanly dressed, with a certain muscular austerity in his manner. Serious, thoughtful, rational, wants order, sense. An ardent socialist who sees his life as part of a larger class struggle.
MARCHAND / As Cast
Male, 40s-early 60s. French, a businessman and gentile. Well-dressed, impatient, fastidious, stuffy and entitled. Brutally disdainful of the lower class, and eagerly deferential to those in power. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
POLICE GUARD
Male, mid 20s-mid 30s. A member of the French police force. Guards the room’s only exit with no compassion for its prisoners. A dutiful instrument of those in authority.
GYPSY / As Cast
Male, 30s. A local beggar and possible thief who keeps to himself and speaks only in broken language. Stands up to the group’s judgments and accusations with vigor despite his station. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
WAITER / As Cast
Male, 40s-50s. French, a waiter at the nearby café, still wearing his apron. He has served the Major, is exceedingly proud of it, and eagerly tries to connect with the Major so he might be spared. Servile, helpless. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
BOY / As Cast
Male, to play 15. French, a local boy from an impoverished family. An innocent, quiet, timid among these men, but one of the few with the courage to attempt an escape. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
FIRST DETECTIVE
Male, late 20s -mid 40s. A member of the French police force. Aggressive, eager to please his superiors.
SECOND DETECTIVE
Male, late 20s -mid 40s. A member of the French police force. Aggressive, eager to please his superiors.
OLD JEW / As Cast
Male, 70s. French, a bearded, elderly man. He never speaks, but tightly clutches a bundle and waits in wordless horror for his fate. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
POLICE CAPTAIN
Male, 40s. An officer in the French police force. An entirely willing and assured collaborator with the Germans and their primary liaison in this operation.
PROFESSOR HOFFMAN
Male, early 30s-early 50s. German, a scientist who is heading the operation in Vichy to root out Jews for extermination and conducts it with absolute and ruthless certainty. Enraged by any resistance to his mission.
FERRAND / As Cast
Male, 50s. French, the proprietor of the nearby café. A cheery, upbeat exterior belies his devastation at the occupation and the imminent demise of his employee, the Waiter. May also play one of a group of prisoners that enters at the end of the play.
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