The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state theatre in France to have its own permanent troupe of actors. The company's primary venue is the Salle Richelieu, which is a part of the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

complex and located at 2, Rue de Richelieu on Place André-Malraux in the

1st arrondissement of Paris The 1st arrondissement of Paris (''Ier arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le premier'' (the first). It is governed locally toge ...

. The theatre has also been known as the Théâtre de la République and popularly as "La Maison de Molière" (The House of Molière). It acquired the latter name from the troupe of the best-known playwright associated with the Comédie-Française, Molière. He was considered the patron of French actors. He died seven years before his troupe became known as the Comédie-Française, but the company continued to be known as "La Maison de Molière" even after the official change of name.

History

The Comédie-Française was founded on 8 August 1680 by a decree of Louis XIV merging the only two Parisian acting troupes of the time, the troupe of the Guénégaud Theatre and that of the Hôtel de Bourgogne. On the death of Molière in 1673, the troupe at the Guénégaud had been formed by a merger of the Théâtre du Marais and the

Troupe de Molière Troupe may refer to: General *Comedy troupe, a group of comedians * Dance troupe, a group of dancers **Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers *Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games *Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical performers ...

. Two years later they received a royal grant of 12,000 livres per year; and seven years later they received their present designation. Thus the Comédie-Française may be said to have an unbroken tradition reaching back to the days of Molière. The company gave its first performance on 25 August 1680 at the Guénégaud. Its leading actors included Molière's widow, Armande Béjart, her husband, Guérin d'Estriché, La Grange, Mlle Champmeslé,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

, Hauteroche, and Raymond Poisson. The repertoire consisted of the collection of theatrical works by Molière and Jean Racine, along with a few works by

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

, Paul Scarron and Jean Rotrou. In the 18th century, the Comédie-Française was often enjoyed by the French nobility, since the price to watch at the theater was expensive. On the performance of Joseph Chénier's anti-monarchical play ''Charles IX'' in 1789, violent political discussions arose among the performers, and ultimately they split into two sections: the Republican party, under the young tragedian Talma, establishing a new theatre under the name "Théâtre de la République," on the site of the present building in the Rue de Richelieu; while the Royalist section took the title "Théâtre de la Nation". On 3 September 1793, during the French Revolution, the Théâtre de la Nation was closed by order of the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

for putting on the allegedly seditious play '' Pamela'', and the actors were imprisoned though gradually released later. On 31 May 1799, the new government made the Salle Richelieu available and allowed the actors to reconstitute the troupe. The Comédie-Française today has a repertoire of 3,000 works and three theatres in Paris (Salle Richelieu, next to the Palais Royal; théâtre du Vieux-Colombier; Studio-Théâtre).

COVID-19 pandemic

Since October 2020, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Comédie-Française had to close as it is the case for all other theaters in France. The Comédie-Française having a permanent troupe of actors, it was decided to switch temporarily to an online program, including readings of the full text of

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

, and an online initiative called ''Théâtre à la table'' where actors of the troupe play works in the repertoire after a one week rehearsal. Online attendance for this initiative was unexpectedly high, including people outside of Paris and in other countries. In May 2021

Éric Ruf Éric Ruf (born 21 May 1969), is a French actor, set designer and theatre director. He appeared in more than thirty films since 1995. He joined the Comédie-Française in 1993, became a member in 1998 and took the role of managing director in 201 ...

, the managing director of the Comédie-Française, declared that 30% of the public of the online program never went to the Comédie-Française, and that they would continue this program even after the reopening.

Theatre buildings

The Comédie-Française has had several homes since its inception in 1680 in the

Salle Guénégaud The Salle de la Bouteille or Salle du Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille, later known as the Hôtel eGuénégaud or Guénégaud Theatre, was a 1671 Theater (structure), theatre located in Paris, France, between the rue de Seine and the rue des F ...

. In 1689, it was established in a theatre across from the Café Procope. From 1770 to 1782, the Comédie performed in the theatre in the royal palace of the Tuileries. In 1782, the company moved into the Salle du Faubourg Saint-Germain, designed by architects Marie-Joseph Peyre and Charles De Wailly and located on the site of today's Odéon. Since 1799, the Comédie-Française has been housed in the Salle Richelieu (architect

Victor Louis Victor Louis (10 May 1731, Paris – 2 July 1800, Paris) was a French architect, disqualified on a technicality from winning the Prix de Rome in architecture in 1755. Life He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris. He did not adopt the name Vic ...

) at 2, rue de Richelieu. This theatre was enlarged and modified in the 1800s, then rebuilt in 1900 after a severe fire.Wild 2012, pp. 99–100, 383–384. The actress

Jane Henriot Jane Henriot (born Jeanne Angèle Grossin; 28 April 1878 – 8 March 1900) was an actress at the Comédie-Française and a model for the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir posing in ''Fillette au chapeau bleu'' (English: ''Little girl in blue hat' ...

was the only casualty of the fire.

Theatrical troupe

The membership of the theatrical troupe is divided into "sociétaires" and "pensionnaires". The former are regular members of the organisation and as such receive a pension after 20 years of service, while the latter are paid actors who may, after a certain length of service, become "sociétaires". The names of nearly all the great actors and dramatists of France have, at some time in their career, been associated with that of the Comédie-Française.

Administrators of the Comédie-Française

The chief administrator of the Comédie-Française has been given the title ''administrateur général'' since

Simonis Simonis is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Adrianus Johannes Simonis, Dutch Roman Catholic cardinal and former archbishop of Utrecht *Eugène Simonis or Eugen Simonis, Belgian sculptor and architect *Heide Si ...

' term of 1850. Before that, a variety of titles were given.

Notes

Bibliography

* Brockett, Oscar G.; Hildy, Franklin J. (2008). ''History of the Theatre'', tenth edition. Boston: Pearson. . * Clarke, Jan (1998). ''The Guénégaud Theatre in Paris (1673–1680). Volume One: Founding, Design and Production''. Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press. . * Gaines, James F. (2002). ''The Molière Encyclopedia''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. . * Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor (1983). ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (fourth edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Laugier, Eugène (1853). ''Documents historiques sur la Comédie-Française pendant le règne de S. M. l'Empereur Napoléon Ier''. Paris: Firmin-Didot. Copie
12
an
3
at Internet Archive. * Maurice, Charles (1860). ''Le Théâtre-Français, monuments et dépendances'', second edition, revised and enlarged. Paris: Garnier. Copie
1
an
2
at Internet Archive. * Sanjuan, Agathe; Poirson, Martial (2018). ''Comédie-Française: une histoire du théâtre''. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. . * Trowbridge, Simon (2020). ''The Comédie-Française from Molière to Éric Ruf''. Oxford: Englance Press. . * Wild, Nicole (2012). ''Dictionnaire des théâtres parisiens (1807–1914)''. Lyon: Symétrie. . .

External links

Comédie-Française's website

The Comédie Française Registers Project
includes performances from 1680 to 1791. {{DEFAULTSORT:Comedie-Francaise 1680 establishments in France Theatres in Paris National theatres Buildings and structures in the 1st arrondissement of Paris Theatre companies in France Opera history