Maurice Valency

Maurice Valency (22 March 1903 – 28 September 1996) was a playwright, author, critic, and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award-winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He wrote several original plays, but is best known for his adaptations of the plays of others. Valency's version of ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' would become the basis of the Jerry Herman musical ''Dear World'' on Broadway.

He is also noted for his book ''The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama''. John Gassner in his review of this book said that Mr. Valency brought to his work "a lifetime of study and experience as well as a viewpoint both Olympian and engaged." Valency also wrote television plays, adaptations of librettos, novels, and academic works on Chekhov, Strindberg, Ibsen and Shaw. Provided by Wikipedia