About the work
Verse play in four acts with a prologue by Edmond Rostand, on which he worked from 1902 with several interruptions. It premiered on 7 February 1910 at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in Paris, with Lucien Guitry in the title role, in a production with more than 70 performers dressed as animals that was one of the most elaborate of its time.
Plot
The rooster Chantecler is convinced that his crowing alone makes the sun rise and protects the farmyard. When a hen pheasant wins his affection, love makes him forget to crow, and he must face that the sun rises without him, becoming the target of a conspiracy by nocturnal birds. After a cockfight and an encounter with a nightingale whose song humbles him, he ultimately chooses duty to the farmyard over a life with the pheasant in the forest.
Cultural significance
After the worldwide success of Cyrano de Bergerac, the premiere was awaited with huge anticipation and doubled ticket prices, but fell short of expectations because verse comedy and animal costumes had gone out of fashion; a 1927 revival was better received. The play is considered Rostand's most personal work and later inspired adaptations as far afield as the animated film Rock-a-Doodle (1991).