''Jocko ou le Singe du Brésil'' (''Jocko or the Monkey of Brazil'') is a two-act play by
Edmond Rochefort
Edmond Rochefort, full name Claude-Louis-Marie de Rochefort-Luçay (Évaux-les-Bains, 1790 – Paris, April 1871), was a French writer, dramatist, vaudevillist and songs writer. His only play that was met with some success is ''Jocko ou le Singe d ...
, inspired by a novel of
Charles de Pougens
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
(1824).
Plot
A rich Portuguese man travelling to Brazil captures a monkey which, during the Atlantic crossing, saves the man's child from shipwreck and dies in doing so. In the second production the public demanded that the monkey survive.
Ballet
The play gave rise to a ballet by
Frédéric-Auguste Blache, with music by
Alexandre Piccinni and sets by
Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri
Pierre-Luc-Charles Cic̩ri (Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, 17 August 1782 РSaint-Ch̩ron, Essonne, 22 August 1868) was a leading French set designer of his era.Th̢̩tre de la Porte Saint-Martin
The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.
History
It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to house t ...
on Wednesday, 16 March 1825. Its main interpreters were and Louise Pierson.
The success of the ballet, a true bridge between the Enlightenment and Romanticism, was so great that many theatres in Paris and the French provinces put on the original version or competing works inspired by the same theme. There were over 160 productions in a single year. The
Duchesse de Berry assisted in the first production in person, and the success was such that many things, such as dresses, fans, hairstyles and even a type of bread were nicknamed "jocko." It was revived three times that year and had many imitators.
Jules Perrot
Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 1810 – 29 August 1892) was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ...
, also in 1825, put on his version at the
Théâtre de la Gaîté, entitled ''Sapajou''.
The following year,
Jean-Antoine Petipa
Jean-Antoine-Nicolas Petipa (16 February 1787, Paris – 28 July 1855, Saint Petersburg) was a French ballet dancer and the father of Marius Petipa.
Life
Aged 8 he was in the revived production of the ballet ''Psyché'' by Pierre Gardel, put ...
put on his version at the
Théâtre de la Monnaie
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...
, with
Laurençon in the lead rôle;
Filippo Taglioni
Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet, ...
reprised the theme at
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
in ''Lanina ou le Singe brésilien'' and put it on in Berlin.
''Jocko ou le singe du Brésil'' saw a long success, even being put on the municipal theatre in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
at the end of the century.
['']La Dépêche tunisienne
''La Dépêche tunisienne'' was a French language daily newspaper published in Tunisia.
History and profile
''La Dépêche tunisienne'' was established in 1892 when the country was under the French protectorate. It was the first newspaper which ...
'', 4 February 1899 It was one of the precursors for the 20th-century fashion for tales of humanised monkeys like ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' and ''
Planet of the Apes
''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jocko Ou Le Singe Du Bresil
1825 ballet premieres
French plays