Bohemia; Or, La Boheme: A Play in Five Acts

By Théodore Barrière and Henri Murger

Henry Murger wrote a series of popular short stories in the late 1840s describing the poverty of the young artists of his generation in Paris, basing them on his personal experiences. These were adapted for the stage by Th odore Barri re in 1857. The play follows the fortunes of several young people, including Marcel (a painter), Musette (his promiscuous lover), Rodolphe (a writer), and Mimi (his faithful but fatally ill companion). Unable to support themselves from their art, they are doomed either to sell out or die of despair and the bad living conditions they're forced to endure. But all remain bright, sympathetic characters full of optimism, despite their lack of commercial success. It's the eternal story of talented youth struggling against a bourgeois society that doesn't appreciate them. Barri re and Murger's work later formed the basis of Puccini's enormously successful opera, La Boh me. A wonderfully romantic musical drama.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1434444155
• ISBN13: 9781434444158
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Borgo Press
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"