''Diplomatie'' (English: ''Diplomacy'') is a play by French writer that tells the story of a fictional meeting that could have taken place in the early hours of August 25, 1944, between Swedish diplomat

Raoul Nordling Raoul Nordling (, ; 11 November 1882 – 1 October 1962) was a Swedish-French businessman and diplomat. He was born in Paris and spent most of his life there. Biography Nordling's father, Carl Gustav Nordling, arrived in Paris from Sweden at ...

and German general

Dietrich von Choltitz Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (; 9 November 1894 – 5 November 1966) was a German general. Sometimes referred to as the Saviour of Paris, he served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving i ...

, at the in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The play has had productions in France, Switzerland, and Australia. It was also adapted into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

of the same name, which premiered at the

64th Berlin International Film Festival The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' opened the festival. British film director Ken Loach was presented with the Golden Bear#Golden Bear .E2.80. ...

in 2014. Gély co-wrote the screenplay with director

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

Plot

Fresh off a decisive defeat at the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

, the Nazis are facing imminent defeat.

, the German general and governor of occupied Paris, is ordered by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

to destroy the city before it can be liberated. The situation is rooted in historical reality, as Hitler told von Cholitz by telegram, "Paris must not fall into the hands of the enemy except as a field of ruins." Before dawn on August 25, 1944, Swedish diplomat

arranges a meeting in von Cholitz's suite at the in

to dissuade him from following Hitler's order. The play follows the imagined cat-and-mouse conversation between the two men, using a single set and consisting almost entirely of dialogue.

Production history

France

The play premiered on January 18, 2011 at the Théâtre de la Madeleine, starring

Niels Arestrup Niels Arestrup (; 8 February 1949 – 1 December 2024) was a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter. Early life and career Arestrup was born in Paris on 8 February 1949, into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his ...

as Dietrich von Cholitz and

André Dussollier André Dussollier (born 17 February 1946) is a French actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the ...

as Raoul Nordling. The production received praise from critics and audiences in Paris. It also toured to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Australia

The play was translated into English by Julie Rose and shown at the

Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales. History It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...

, starring John Bell and

John Gaden John Stuart Gaden (born 13 November 1941) is an Australian actor and director known particularly for his stage career, although he has also made some film and television appearances. Career John Gaden was born in Sydney where his father owned ...

. It had a sellout season in 2018, and returned the following year with the same actors.

Film adaptation

The play was adapted into a

that premiered at the

in 2014. Gély co-wrote the screenplay with director

. Arestrup and Dussollier reprised their roles from the original French stage production.

References

{{reflist 2011 plays French plays