Theatre History Overview - Part 13 - French Theatre

ome people think that French theatre only developed very late in the 1500s, almost starting in the year 1600. However,that is not true. It is only true that French theatre was in a type of hiatus from 1562-1598 because of the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants.

French theatre actually has a history that dates back to the 12th century. At this time, most theatre was written and performed in Latin. However, there were plays written in French. The earliest example is probably Le jeu d'Adam. the idea for theatre was entertainment, not religious education.

Theatre in 16th century France followed much of the same patterns as other renaissance theatre. However, French theatre truly came into it's own in the 17th century.

In 1635, the Academie Francaise was created by Cardinal Richilieu in order to try to regulate language and literary expression. This caused a conflict in the theatre because others wanted literary freedom. However, by 1660, the acceptance of literary rules was established as the norm. These rules were published in Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux's 1674 publication.

It was during this time that some of France's greatest dramatists emerged. These included Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Molilere.

In the early 1700s, Comedie-Italienne (Italian comedies, so-called to distinguish it from the Comedie-Francaise that was produced) became popular. This was after they had been banned in 1697 for being found too offensive. However, durign this time, companies even started interspersing Comedie-Italiane with French words. One theatre company even got permission from Louis XIV to use all French in the Comedie-Italienne plays.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Romanticism became popular in France. Opera bouffe (Comic opera) also became popular around this time. It was also at this time that claquers were used. These were people that were hired to clap during performances. There are also rieurs, who laugh, pleurerus, who fake crying, chatouilleurs, who keep the audience ina good mood, and bisseurs who clap their hands and shoud, "bis! bis!"

In the mid 1900s, theatre of the absurd came into being with Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano. This also made way for playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. French theatre continues strongly to this day, using plays in French and from all over the world.

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