 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
REVOLUTIONARY UPHEAVALS |
|
| |
The Revolution granted actors civil and
religious rights which had always been denied to them
beforehand, but also put an end to the Company's
privileges: the royal pension was revoked, while the 1790
and 1791 decrees abolished the monopoly the
Comédie-Française exercised over the French repertoire.
|
|
Talma |
|
During these troubled times, the
Comédie-Française was subject to numerous dangers.
Dissident "republican" actors led by Talma, who
had recently joined the Company and was in
complete favour of revolutionary ideas, seceded and moved
into the new Théâtre de la République built by Victor
Louis on Rue de Richelieu. |
|
| |
In 1793, the actors who were still
playing at the Théâtre de la Nation were arrested and
would have been guillotined, had it not been for
Labussière, an amateur actor who also happened to work
for the revolutionary authorities. After a few years of
wandering, the Company was reunited on the initiative of
a writer, François de Neufchâteau, who was Home
Secretary before becoming a member of the
"Directoire" government. The Société des
Comédiens-Français was granted a concession on the
newly named Théâtre français de la République, on Rue
de Richelieu, and the new Comédie-Française was
inaugurated on 30 May 1799 (11 prairial of year
VII). Napoleon's protection soon followed. In 1804,
a new act of association was signed on 17 April, and on 15
October 1812 in Moscow, the Emperor signed a decree
to reorganise the Théâtre-Français.
Dominated by Talma, Napoleon's favourite actor, the new
"sociétaires" (shareholding members),
including Mesdemoiselles George and
Duchesnois, competed to woo audiences with a classical
repertoire which by far surpassed the mediocre
contemporary one. |
|
| |
Foundation • Theatremania • Revolution • Romanticism
Administrators • Stage Direction • "Cartel"
Repertoire • Challenges |
|
|
|
|
