Molière is the most famous playwright of the
Comédie-Française, which the public often calls
symbolically "Molière's House". No season ever goes by
without his name appearing on the theatre's playbills.
Since August 1680, when Louis XIV created the only company authorised to
perform French plays in Paris, Molière's works have been
performed close to 32 000 times, but the repertoire has also
expanded to include the great names of foreign and
contemporary drama.After the
time of Racine, Corneille, Musset and Marivaux, famous authors have rubbed shoulders
with less familiar ones whose works were often performed
in past centuries but have long since disappeared from
playbills. Reading this list is surprising and provides a
great deal of information about the variations in
audience taste throughout the centuries. The drama of
Voltaire is probably the most striking and best known
example.
Indeed, Voltaire, whose philosophical works rather than
his plays are generally well appreciated today, played an
essential part in the theatre of the Enlightenment. To
date, his plays have been performed close to 4 000 times,
but the last performances date back to 1965. It is
important to point out that the figures shown cover three
centuries and that certain authors are
"static", while others keep progressing on a
regular and cumulative basis.
List of The
Most-Presented Authors
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