It was not until the 1977 publication of OEuvres créatrices complètes (Collected Creative Works), a text that Claude Gauvreau had prepared before his death, that the author's extraordinarily fertile and innovative imagination began to be recognized. This volume is impressive as much for the diversity of its themes as for the variety of techniques used to express them. It is not, however, a work that has been appreciated by the public. Several of the "dramatic objects" collected in it--the word plays does not exactly describe them--are practically unproducible because the complexity of the settings requires almost unmanageable techniques of representation. Several of the plays use what Gauvreau has called "language exploréen" (exploratory language): a language that is rich in sound, but private, making arduous demands on vocal skills. Gauvreau's originality also makes his work difficult to comprehend. He wanted to cross traditional literary...