Valère Novarina is the best-known and most influential avant-garde dramatist working in France today. He is the author of over twenty plays, including Le Drame de la vie (The Drama of Life, 1984), La Chair de l’homme (Man’s Flesh, 1995), L’Origine rouge (The Red Origin, 2000), and L’Acte inconnu (The Unknown Act, 2006). He is also a theorist of the stage and has produced a number of books devoted to stage aesthetics. He has received many awards, and L’Acte inconnu was commissioned as the featured play of the 2006 Avignon Theatre Festival.