COMEDY FRANCESE(La Comédie Française; official name – Théâtre Français), French national theater, one of the oldest theaters in Paris. Founded in 1680 by decree of Louis XIV.
By the 17th century The French national theater had not yet been fully formed, despite the surge in the development of drama (P. Corneille, J. Racine, J.-B. Molière) - the general aesthetic system of professional theater (as at the same time in England) was going through a period of formation. The Renaissance, which had a huge impact on the development of theater, came to France a century and a half later than to Italy, and the French theater was under the influence of secular and clerical authorities. Regulation at this time was experienced by all types French art, this was emphasized by the creation of the Academies. The situation was complicated by the fact that Louis XIV was a theater lover, so the patronage of the authorities resulted in strict control. This is confirmed by tragic story the life of J.B. Moliere, who managed, maneuvering between the demands of the king and the ambitions of the troupe, to keep his theater at a high professional level. After his death in 1673, difficulties came for the French theater. better times. The former troupe of Molière, which merged with the troupe of the Marais Theater and settled on the stage of the Hotel Guenego, competed with the troupe of the Burgundy Hotel, competing for the favor of the king. The life of the two Parisian theaters consisted of intrigue and strife, and audience interest was catastrophically declining.
To preserve the national theater, on August 18, 1680, Louis XIV signed a decree ordering the merger of the Guenego and Burgundy Hotel troupes. IN new theater only the best actors transferred. The decree granted the theater a monopoly right to show performances in Paris. “The Theater of French Comedians” (original name) received a royal subsidy of 12,000 livres and leadership - superintendents appointed by the king, who determined the repertoire, composition of the troupe and creative issues. Already on August 25, the updated lineup played Phaedra Racine and Orleans carriages La Chapelle.
The troupe included 15 actors and 12 actresses, including M. Schanmele, M. Baron, P. Poisson, C. Lagrange, N. Auteroche, C. Rosimon, A. Bejart and others. Being a court theater, in its organizational structure it was an acting partnership (société). Income was divided into 24 shares (the distribution of shares was handled by management); the main participants of the partnership, co-sitters, had the right to receive a share or part thereof. The troupe included the so-called boarders are actors invited to play individual roles.
This organizational structure of the theater was preserved almost throughout the entire existence of the theater. It changed only once, for several years, during the French period. bourgeois revolution late 18th century Adopted by the Constituent Assembly in January 1791 Decree on Freedom of Theaters renamed the Comédie Française the Theater of the Nation and abolished its royal privileges and subordination to the court. In 1792, the political struggle within the theater led the troupe to a division between royalists and republicans. Actor F. J. Talma, who professed the ideas of revolutionary heroism and civic-minded theatrical art, together with a group of like-minded people (J. B. Dugazon, F. M. R. Vestris, etc.) left the Comédie Française and organized the Theater of the Republic. In 1793, the actors of the Theater of Nations were arrested by the Jacobin authorities for staging reactionary drama and were sentenced to the guillotine. They were saved from death by the amateur actor Labussiere, but they were released in 1794, after the overthrow of Robespierre. And in 1799 both parts of the troupe reunited; the theater was returned to its previous name. The status and structure of the Comédie Française were confirmed in Napoleon's "Moscow Decree", signed in 1812, during the military campaign against Russia. This decree emphasizes the importance of theatrical art (including its ideological component) for the formation and strengthening of statehood.
In the 17th century the monopoly on work in Paris and the royal subsidy gave the theater enormous financial advantages. However, creative and everyday life theater was strictly regulated. 40 statutory rules determined the weekly meetings of the troupe with the obligatory presence of each actor, the obligation of co-actors to take part in performances every day, the inability to refuse the assigned role, etc. For disrespectful behavior towards colleagues and the use of language “not accepted among noble people,” members of the troupe paid fines that went to the benefit of the poor. Fines were also imposed for being late.
In addition to the troupe and senior administrative personnel (treasurer, secretary and controller, nominated by the societers from among their members and performing their duties on a voluntary basis), the theater had large staff hired employees: concierge, cashier, illuminator, printer making posters, receptionist, etc.
Since 1802, the theater has been based on rue Richelieu in the Palais Royal area. Comédie Française found himself in the room where Moliere was working. Here the theater had a main stage with a hall with 750 seats and a smaller hall with about 300 seats - the Old Dovecote Theater, as well as a small hall with 100 seats in the Louvre.
The second, almost official, name of the theater is the House of Moliere, which is often called the Theater of the Word (Théâtre du Mot). This emphasizes the creative trends that the team follows: reliance on high dramaturgy, in-depth attention to language and speech, revered as a national treasure.
The privileged position of the theater made it possible to attract best actors France. Almost all the names of French actors who have gained worldwide fame over the past three hundred years are in one way or another connected with the Comédie Française: M. Duclos, A. Lecouvreur, A. Lequesne, M. Dumenil, I. Cleron, J. B. Brizard, Mars, C. Duchesnoy, Georges, E. Rachel, S. Bernard, J. Mounet-Sully, C. Coquelin and others. As well as the best French playwrights– J.F. Regnard, A.R. Lesage, P. Marivaux, F. Voltaire, D. Diderot, P. Beaumarchais, V. Hugo, E. Scribe, A. Dumas the son, V. Sardou and others.
The theater experienced a certain crisis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during a period of radical transformation of world theater. The emergence of director's theater, which forced the whole world to reconsider its basic principles theatrical productions, came into conflict with the primordial traditions of the theater, when the societers also carried out the functions of a director, selecting dramatic material primarily from the point of view of winning their roles. Thus, shortly before the creation of the Moscow Art Theater, K. S. Stanislavsky declared the artists of the Comedie Française “Moliere’s greatest enemies,” contrasting the pseudo-performing traditions with the director’s fresh interpretation of drama.
The first attempt to change the situation was made by the satirist playwright E. Bourdais, who was appointed in 1936 to the post of general administrator. He invited the brightest avant-garde artists to the theater: J. Copo, L. Jouvet, C. Dullen and G. Bati. Both in new productions and in work on old performances, they filmed in an archaic style, trying to create a creative ensemble from a formal collection of star actors. However, all four directors did not set themselves the task of radically altering the existing organism; they were “people from the outside” and did not consider this theater as “theirs.” We could talk about individual successes of individual performances.
The general reform of the theater is associated with the name of J. Meyer, a student of Jouvet and a graduate of the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Art, educational institution, which was under the auspices of the Comédie Française. He staged his first performances in 1944, and in 1946, after J.L. Barrot left the theater, he was appointed director of classical productions. Meyer worked in the theater for about twenty years, instilling a new aesthetic, educating and training young actors within the theater, without interrupting live stage practice. His performances were attended by audience success, his work was highly appreciated by critics, linking Meyer's performances with the revival of the national theater. But the desire for unity of creative leadership led to a conflict between the director and the committee of societers, which ultimately forced Meyer to leave the theater. However, this period did not pass without a trace; it is believed that today the theater is almost the only one in the world classical theater national scale, not shying away from experiments. Thus, in the 1970s, even productions by absurdists E. Ionesco and S. Beckett were included in the repertoire. An indirect confirmation of this can be considered an invitation to the theater to see productions by such Russian directors as A. Vasiliev ( Masquerade, 1992 and Amphitryon, 2002) and P. Fomenko ( Forest, 2003).
Today the theater retains its organizational structure. It is managed by the general administrator (now M. Bozonnet), whose work is controlled by the societers (there are no longer 27, but 40). In addition - 20 boarders. According to Bosonnet, “there is no boarder who would not dream of becoming a souceter.” Not everyone succeeds - at the annual meeting, at least 21 socatters must vote to change the actor's status. The transition to societers entails changes in their creative status and financial situation: their income exceeds the earnings of boarders by 2–3 times. The Committee of Societers also decides on the issues of retiring actors.
The theater toured in Russia in 1954, 1969, 1973 and 1985. In 2005, Comédie Française became a participant in the Moscow International Chekhov Festival, where he brought the play Forest directed by P. Fomenko.
Tatiana Shabalina
The Comédie Française is not only the most famous French theater, but also the only publicly funded repertory theater in the country. It is located in the city center, near the Palais Royal.
At the origins was King Louis XIV. An inveterate theatergoer, he issued a decree that united two leading Parisian troupes into the “Theater of French Comedians” and granted him the exclusive right to show performances in Paris. The theater received financial support and a superintendent who determined the repertoire and composition of the troupe.
The court theater was a partnership of actors (“sosete”). Income was divided into shares owed to the members of the partnership (“co-senters”). This structure was maintained all the time, except for the period French Revolution. Then constituent Assembly renamed the Comédie Française the Theater of the Nation and abolished all its privileges. The troupe immediately split into royalists and republicans. The Republicans created the Theater of the Republic. The Jacobins arrested everyone remaining in the troupe and sentenced them to the guillotine. Those condemned to execution were saved after the overthrow of Robespierre.
The creative life of the theater was regulated in detail by the charter approved by Napoleon during his stay in Moscow. The forty rules of the charter required weekly meetings of the troupe, the obligation of the co-actors to play on stage every day without the right to refuse the role. This structure has been preserved to this day, except that there are more souceters. In addition to them, guest actors, “boarders,” play on the local stage. Each boarder strives to move to the status of a co-sitter - such a transition significantly increases earnings.
The unofficial name of the theater is the House of Molière: the troupe of the great comedian played at the Palais Royal from 1661 to 1673. The theater houses the chair in which Moliere supposedly died during the performance of The Imaginary Invalid (in fact, he died at home).
Sarah Bernhardt, Jeanne Samary, Jean Marais played on the stage of the Comédie Française. The traditions of the theater include constant adherence to high dramaturgy and emphasized attention to speech and language. Today, the Comédie Française is perhaps the only classical theater of national scale in the world that boldly undertakes creative experiments.
Comedie Française
"Comédie Française" is the name of the theater "Théâtre Français", French theater, theater French comedy. One of the oldest Western European professional theaters, it was created in 1680 by decree of King Louis XIV, which united the Moliere Theater (which had previously merged with the Marais Theater) with the Burgundy Hotel theater. The theater troupe included 27 actors, including M. Chanmele, M. Baron, P. Poisson, C. Lagrange, A. Bejart and others.
The theater received a royal subsidy of 12,000 livres, and was led by superintendents appointed by the king, who determined the repertoire, composition of the troupe, etc. “Comédie Française” was an acting partnership (societe). Income was divided into 24 shares, the main participants of the partnership were “societers” " - had the right to a whole share or part of it. The theater troupe also included “pensioners” - actors who received a salary. From the day the theater was founded until 1715, the king also had at his disposal half of the share, which he gave at his own discretion to the actors he personally invited, without the consent of the troupe. Actor-shareholders were are not interested in increasing the number of shares, since the income figure for each of them decreased. The pensioners were, as it were, in the service and received a salary regardless of the amount of the theater’s income. They were recruited from provincial or private theaters in Paris. The pensioner could be transferred to societers as a result. voting on general meeting Societers, held once a year. Then he was assigned either a full share or a part of the share, depending on his participation in the life of the theater.
"Comédie Française" began working in the building of the Hotel Guenego on Rue Mazarin, and in 1687 moved to Rue Fosse-Saint-Germain-des-Prés (now Rue Vieux Comedy), where it remained until 1770. In 1771 the troupe played in the Tuileries, in the hall in which the Convention met during the years of the revolution. In 1782, the Comedie Française moved to the premises where the Odeon Theater was later founded. From 1802 to the present day the theater has been operating on the street. Richelieu in the Palais Royal area.
In the 18th century, the theater was closely associated with the court and the aristocracy - the actors were called “ordinary actors of the king” and were subordinate to four court dignitaries, who took turns managing the theater. Chamber junkers (as they were called) had every right to preview all the plays scheduled for production, they could interfere with the distribution of roles and accept new members into the troupe.
In the theater of this time, it was also customary to allocate seats for noble spectators directly on the sides of the proscenium. Naturally, the actors could hear any noise or conversations during the performance. These special “places of honor” were gradually forced out of the stage, as the audience often disturbed the actors.
Soon after the creation of the Comedie Française, the theater gained fame as the largest in France. Position „ royal theater", that is, having a stable material base, made it possible to invite the most talented actors. The theater had a monopoly on the performance of the best national dramatic works, which attracted such famous playwrights as J. F. Regnard, F. C. Dancourt, A. R. Lesage, F. Detouche, P. C. Nivel de Lachausse, P. .Marivaux. From the very beginning of the theater’s emergence, two acting schools were represented in it, which were called “Racin’s” and “Moliere’s”. The first was represented by actors from the tragic classicist repertoire. The largest representative of Racine’s school is Racine’s favorite student and the best performer of his tragedies, the “sweet-sounding” Marie Chanmele, who worked in the theater until 1697. It was under Racine’s leadership that she maintained in her performance high culture poetic speech, majestic nobility and grace. After Racine left the theater, Chanmele, deprived of reliable leadership, often returned to that crude theatrical declamation, which Racine himself fought against. Shanmele was the Baron's main opponent. The largest actor of the Molière school was the Baron, the last of the great comedian's students. The Baron was the only one of Moliere's students who devoted himself mainly to tragedy. However, he understood his tasks differently, especially in the field of theatrical recitation. In the first place in reading poetry, he put forward not the melodic side of the verse, but the thought contained in it. For the sake of the naturalness of the play, he obscured the rhyme, broke the rhythm of the Alexandrian verse with which tragedies were written, brought it closer to prose, maintained long pauses in the middle of the tirade and resorted to such techniques unacceptable from the point of view of classicist declamation, such as whispering, sobbing, sobbing, etc. He violated the decorum and ceremony of behavior tragic hero. He was the first to introduce the principle of communication with a partner, unprecedented in the French theater. There was a struggle between Shanmele and the Baron for eleven years, until the Baron unexpectedly left the stage in the full bloom of his fame.
From the first quarter of the 18th century, the Comédie Française theater staged works by French educators who saw theater arts a means of enlightening and educating the people. In 1718–1778, the basis of the tragic repertoire was dramatic works Voltaire, plays by Diderot, P. Beaumarchais. As a “royal” theater, the “Comédie Française” was, of course, conservative to a certain extent: it maintained the traditions of aristocratic classicism with its characteristic stage conventions, exaggerated affectation, decorative plasticity of acting poses, melodious, “howling” declamation, which received the most vivid expression in the acting art of the next generation - Beaubourg, Duclos In 1717 she joined the theater troupe. new actress, who has built a strong reputation in the provinces - Andrienne Lecouvreur. She made her debut with great success in the role of Monima in Racine’s Mithridates. She played simply, sincerely, truthfully and was, according to Voltaire, “so touching that she made you shed tears.”
If Duclos was an actress of strength, then Lecouvreur excelled where subtle performance was required. She, like the Baron, valued her partner and knew how to listen to him. And when in 1729 the old actor Baron returned to the stage again, it was in Lecouvreur that he saw his successor and communicated joyfully with her, but death that same year cut short his care of the young actress, who also died tragically early - a year later, being 38 - years old. All of Paris persistently talked about the fact that she was poisoned by a high-society rival - this is exactly how the cause of her death is depicted in Scribe’s melodrama “Andrienne Lecouvreur”. Another of the first attempts to change the image of a tragic heroine is associated with the name of this actress - in one of Corneille’s tragedies she appeared on stage in a black dress, devoid of fashionable embroidery and decoration (as was customary) and without a wig, with her hair flowing. Tragic actresses at this time always performed in lush court dresses.
The entire history of the development of dramatic theater, the history of the struggle between various theatrical and literary trends reflected in his repertoire, in his acting school. Throughout the 18th century, theatrical classicism retreated and transformed. Actors of the new generation M. Baron, A. Lecouvreur, M. Dumenil, A. Lequesne, while maintaining the old features of the acting school, at the same time strived for its renewal - for greater psychological justification of recitation, for greater naturalness of stage behavior. However, the noble grandeur and monumentality of theatrical classicism had to give way to gallant eroticism, exquisite decorativeness and ornamentation. This style was played at the Granval Theater by Mlle Gossen and Mlle Dangeville. Granval was refined - he perfectly mastered the secret of “marivodage” - the gallant high society jargon of the 18th century. He transferred the atmosphere of aristocratic salons to the stage. But the realistic manner of performance is increasingly replacing the classical manner of actors of the old generation: actress Dumenil, with whom no one could compare in power of influence on the audience, playing in the tragedies of the classicists, in the tragedies of Voltaire, she knew how to make the audience cry, creating images of “tragic mothers.” She's playing royalty, did not walk decorously and measuredly, but, protecting her son from the hand of the killer, instantly, in one leap, she found herself next to him, exclaiming with tears in her eyes: “Stop, barbarian, this is my son!” The hall trembled. She could break all the rules of the courtier etiquette and, for example, crawling down the steps of the tomb, again playing the queen. And this was in the court theater! This actress played by instinct and therefore was excellent in all situations and in all dramas where passion reigned. into fear and horror, into sorrow and admiration. Clairon is another brilliant name of the theater, followed by Henri-Louis Lequesne - Voltaire’s favorite actor and student, who did a tremendous amount of work on himself, constantly improving his skills, he became one of the leading “firsts.” actors" of the theater, although his appearance did not seem to suit him for the main roles. Lequesne's art denied gallant beauty and pampered grace. His element was harsh power, energy, and the dynamics of passions. He was the first actor who lived the thoughts of others (i.e. heroes) as if they were his own. He played all Voltaire's roles. In 1759, Lequesne also began directing work at the Comédie Française. Having had a vast stage at his full disposal, Lequesne, first of all, discarded the standard “palace in general” set, in which all tragedies were performed, regardless of their content. He introduced the habit of putting every new tragedy in a special setting, and even change them if the play required it. He also paid great attention to the mise-en-scène of the tragedy. Usually the actors came to the foreground (proscenium) and there they delivered their monologues. Lequesne began to place the actors on different levels of the stage in picturesque groups, and began to introduce transitions. His death on February 8, 1778 was an extremely tragic loss for the French theater. It happened shortly before the death of his teacher Voltaire. The latter arrived in Paris after many years of absence on the very day of Lequin's funeral and fainted at the news of his death. But he had successors and students.
During the years of the French Revolution (1789–1794), the Comedie Française was renamed and became known as the Theater of the Nation. Political struggle during the revolution led to a split in the troupe (in 1792). By the end of 1789, two opposing political groups had emerged in the theater. Supporters of the revolution and patriotic repertoire grouped around young actor Talma. The group of “blacks,” that is, royalist actors who cannot stand the fact that the stalls of their theater are filled with rabble, included many of the theater’s leading actors. The formal reason for the final split was the story surrounding the play “Charles IX.” This play was successfully performed on stage 33 times. Its interpretation was revolutionary, that is, anti-monarchical. The royalist actors ensured that it was removed from the repertoire. But the spectators, among whom were Danton, Mirabeau, deputies of departments, and the mass of revolutionary people, violently interfered in the affairs of the theater. Two thousand people before the performance shouted: “Charles IX!” The performance had to be resumed, but the theater management took advantage of the illness of the actress Vestris and the departure of the actor who played the cardinal. Then Talma spoke to the audience. He declared that the performance would take place at all costs - actress Vestris, out of patriotic feelings, will play, despite his illness, and he himself will simply read the role of the cardinal from the notebook. The ovation of the audience was stormy. The conflict between Talma and the troupe took on ominous proportions. The enraged leading actor gave him a slap in the face. duel, the royalist actors decided to expel Talm from the theater troupe, which caused a huge scandal in the theater. auditorium up to the intervention of city authorities. In such a situation, naturally, coexistence was impossible. The revolution passed through main theater France. Actor F. J. Talma (1763–1826), the greatest French actor, passionate about civic trends in art, who embodied the heroic-revolutionary orientation in his work, together with J. B. Dugazon, F. Vestris left the Comedie Française and organized the Theater of the Republic". The “Jacobin repertoire” was performed in this theater. Talma played the role of a tyrant Henry VIII in Chenier's play, as well as the role of a fair judge, a fighter against the aristocracy, folk hero, patriot. His heroes fought for justice. But he was not such a revolutionary as to forget about the stable, protective tendencies of his art. After the counter-revolutionary coup of 1794, anti-Jacobin plays appeared on the stage of the Theater of the Republic.
In January 1793, the actors of the “Theater of the Nation”, that is, the “Comédie Française”, shortly before the execution of Louis XVI, showed the play “The Friend of the Laws”. central images were a caricature of Robespierre and Marat. The performance, naturally, was equally enthusiastically received by supporters of the monarchy. But the Jacobin “Leaflet of Public Salvation” angrily demanded the closure of this theater as an “unclean den” dominated by “Prussian and Austrian henchmen.” As a result, the Committee of Public Safety decided to close the “Theater of the Nation” and arrest its actors. The actors who remained in the “Theater of the Nation” were arrested by the Jacobin authorities in 1793 for staging “reactionary plays” and were released only after the overthrow of Robespierre in 1794.
In 1799, both parts of the troupe united again, and the theater received its former historical name. Napoleon’s “Moscow Decree” of 1812 once again approved the internal structure of the Comedie Française theater, which was subsequently confirmed by decrees of 1850, 1859, 1901, 1910, and also strengthened the theater’s position as a privileged theater and subordinate to state authorities.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the “Comédie Française” still represented an exemplary national dramaturgy and occupied a protective-conservative position in art. Leading theater actors played in the tragedies of the national Playwrights Lemercier and Renoir:
Talma, Duchesnoy, Georges, Lafon, Mars. Talma is still one of the largest actors in the French theater. At this time, he plays mainly heroes of Shakespearean tragedies. IN last years Talma is actively involved in teaching practice. On the eve of the revolution of 1830, the theater stage staged romantic dramas Victor Hugo. The heroic theme before the revolution of 1848 sounded in the works famous actress Rachelle. Then a period of “calm” began in the theater, when plays of the bourgeois type by playwrights E. Scribe, E. Ogier, light and entertaining plays by A. Dumas the son, V. Sardou were performed on stage. The outstanding actress Agar was forced to years to leave the theater. In the art of other tragic actors of the late 19th century - Sarah Bernhardt, J. Mounet-Sully, the features of academicism and stylization intensified. At the same time, comedy was actively staged, in which many talented actors played - the most brilliant of them Go and Coquelin. Their roles were distinguished by fine finishing, strict logic, and the ability to reveal the special character of the hero.
At the end of the 19th century, works by realist playwrights - Beck, France, Renard, and later Fabre - were performed on the stage of the famous theater. Expanding and classical repertoire- it includes the works of P. Merimee, O. Balzac, A. Musset, Shakespeare. Late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, as in others European cultures, was marked by the formation of director's theater - the figure of the director as the creator of the performance acquires enormous weight and significance. A significant event for the Comedie Française in the 30s of the 20th century was the invitation to the production of such major directors as J. Copo, L. Jouvet, C. Dullin, G. Baty. The name of this theater is associated with the work of other outstanding actors and directors modern theater- J.L. Barrot, M. Belle, J. Jonella, B.-M. Bovey, B. Bretti et al.
The oldest national theater in France is also called the “House of Moliere” - presenters French actors and directors have always worked in it. This is an honor and responsibility. French and European classics are always present on its stage. The "Comédie Française" theater can perhaps be compared with our Maly Theater - "Ostrovsky House". Such theaters always remain in the minds of their compatriots as exemplary, reference, preserving the best theatrical traditions of their culture.
Theater "Comédie Française" in Paris - repertoire, ticket prices, address, telephone numbers, official website.
- Last minute tours To France
Paris - cultural capital world, even children know this. And the names of his theaters have sounded like music to many of us since childhood, or at least teenage times. After all, we studied Molière at school and were told that his plays were staged on the stage of the Comédie Française. We read both Hugo and Dumas the Son, and every time we read the biography, we came across this magic word - Comedy Française.
So what kind of theater is this, what is its history, and how does it delight the audience today? First, a little about history. Comedy Française - oldest theater not only in France, but throughout Europe. Judge for yourself, it has been working for more than three hundred and thirty years! And he is still the presenter Theatre of Drama Paris, one of its main attractions. It should be noted that Russian tourists especially love the theater, and this is understandable, taking into account the fact that we are a nation of true theatergoers.
The Comedy Francaise Theater was created not just anyhow, but by decree of the Sun King himself, who decided to unite two Parisian theaters of that time - the theater of the recently deceased Moliere and the Burgundy Hotel theater. The troupe included the most famous French actors of that period. The genius of Moliere forever remained invisibly present in the French theater, so that sometimes the Comedy Française is even called the “House of Moliere.” Indeed, almost all of the great playwright’s plays were staged here. Subsequently, Beaumarchais, Diderot, Racine and Voltaire took up the baton.
The Comedy Francaise Theater was created not just anyhow, but by decree of the Sun King himself, who decided to unite two Parisian theaters of that time - the theater of the recently deceased Moliere and the Burgundy Hotel theater.
Since the theater received an annual royal subsidy, which gave it the opportunity to invite the most famous actors, and also had the right to stage plays in French, it soon gained enormous popularity in France and became its largest theater.
As you know, European theaters operate mainly on the enterprise principle, but the Comedy Française is an exception; it is one of the few repertory theaters in Europe, where a wide variety of productions are staged, from ancient comedies and tragedies to the most modern plays. Directors from various countries, For example, famous Peter Fomenko staged Ostrovsky’s play “The Forest” on the stage of the Comedy Française, which was shown at the Chekhov festival held here in 2005. The management of the theater produces many foreign authors, but still most of the plays are performed in French.
How to get to the show
Theater tickets, of course, come in different price categories, depending on the seat in the theater that you want to purchase. The most expensive tickets cost about 43 EUR, and the cheapest - don't be surprised - only 9 EUR.
By the way, in an effort to introduce young people to the art of Melpomene, every first Monday free seats are allocated to persons under 28 years of age.
Comedie Francaise is the oldest drama theater in France. The building was designed by Louis at the end XVIII century. In the 19th century, the theater was reconstructed under the leadership of Chabrol and Fontaine. The Comedy-Française troupe was created by Jean-Baptiste Molière himself, and almost all of his plays were performed in the theater. The name of the Comedy Française is associated with the activities of such great playwrights of France as […]
- the oldest drama theater in France. The building was built according to the project Louis V late XVIII centuries. In the 19th century, the theater was reconstructed under the direction of Chabrol and Fontaine.
The Comedy-Française troupe was created by himself Jean-Baptiste Moliere, and almost all of his plays were performed in the theater. With name Comedy Française associated with the activities of such great playwrights of France as Beaumarchais, Diderot, Voltaire, Racine.
During the French Revolution the theater was called Theater of the Nation. At the end of the 18th century it was renamed back to Comédie-Française. In the 19th century, the repertoire included productions of works Victor Hugo, Ogier, Dumas the Son and many others famous writers and playwrights. In the 20th century, the theater was influenced by reformist ideas Antoine, enriched the repertoire the best works world and French drama.
The building also houses Comedy-Française Museum. Next door on Richelieu street there was a house where he died Moliere, and in house No. 69 on Richelieu Street (now it is modern building), Stendhal worked on my famous novel"Red and black".
During the Soviet era, the Comedy-Française theater went on tour four times.
Place Colette, 75001 Paris, France
comedie-francaise.fr
How do I save on hotels?
It's very simple - look not only on booking. I prefer the search engine RoomGuru. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and on 70 other booking sites.
