Marianne Dujardin, (ca. 1680 - floruit 1746), was a French actress, opera singer, and theatre director. She was the director of the La Monnaie in Brussels from 1724 to 1726. Histoire Du Spectacle en Europe (1580-1750): Pierre Béhar, Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly · 1999 Dujardin is regarded as one of the earliest and most notable French female theatre directors and as a pioneer for colleagues of her gender in that role.

Life

Dujardin was part of the choir of the Royal Music Academy of Paris. As part of this choir, she took on small roles in performances such as ''Iphigénie et Tauride'' by

Antoine Danchet Antoine Danchet (7 September 1671 – 21 February 1748) was a French playwright, librettist and dramatic poet. Biography Danchet was born in Riom, in the Auvergne, France. Having been a professor of rhetoric at Chartres and then a tutor at Par ...

and

André Campra André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tra ...

(6 May 1704), ''La Vénitienne'' by Antoine Houdar de La Motte and Michel de La Barre (16 May 1705), and in a reprisal of ''Alceste'' by Philippe Quinault and

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

(25 November 1706). From then on, she also performed larger roles, such as Junon in ''Sémélé'' by La Motte and Marin Marais (9 April 1709), and Manto in ''Manto la Fée'' by Mennesson and Jean-Baptiste Stuck (29 January 1711). Manto was her last role at ''l'Opera'', which she left to travel to

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. During the next year, Dujardin directed a troupe that performed in Brussels and Ghent. The troupe arrived in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

in 1718, and travelled further north towards Lille. She joined the troupe of Denis and Garnier, and later took on leadership over this group. This new troupe performed in The Hague and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

between 1721 and 1723, and in Brussels in 1724, where Dujardin became director of La Monnaie from 1725 to 1726. She directed the theater of Metz (1729-1731), and travelled to

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

(1731),

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

(1733), Toulouse and Montauban (1734), and finally to Marseille (1734-1736). In 1735, Dujardin received permission to build a new, open theater hall in the garden of the Hôtel de Ville of Bordeaux. Afterwards, she found herself in

(1736-1737),

(1738), and Toulouse (1737). She returned to Marseille in 1738. She sang at Bordeaux and Toulouse in 1746. This is the last that is known of her.

References

* https://cesar.huma-num.fr/cesar2/people/people.php?fct=edit&person_UOID=336483 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dujardin, Marianne Directors of La Monnaie French stage actresses 18th-century French women opera singers French theatre directors French women theatre directors Actors from the Austrian Netherlands Year of birth missing Year of death missing 18th-century French actresses 18th-century theatre managers Women from the Austrian Netherlands