Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau is a theater located at 14 boulevard de Strasbourg in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The 800-seat Italian Style theater was built in the year 1866. It functioned under a variety of names through the years, opening as Theatre des Menus-Plaisirs (1866–1874, 1877–1879, 1882–1888), then Théâtre des Arts (1874–1876, 1879–1881), Opéra-Bouffe (1876–1877), and the Comédie-Parisienne (1881).

Théâtre-Libre (1888-1897) and Théâtre-Antoine (1897-1906)

In 1888 it became the venue for the

Théâtre Libre The Théâtre Libre (French for "Free Theatre") was a theatre company that operated from 1887 to 1896 in Paris, France. Origins and History Théâtre Libre was founded on 30 March 1887 by André Antoine. The primary goal of the theatre was ...

company of

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utilit ...

. Although short-lived, lasting only eight years, the theater's pioneering naturalism proved extremely influential. Antoine departed in 1894 under financial pressure, the enterprise closed in 1896, but Antoine returned the following year to the renamed Théâtre AntoineAnne I. Miller,
The Independent Theatre in Europe, 1887 to the Present
', page 40. with a more deliberately provocative program that lasted until 1906.

From 1943 onwards

The theater now bears the name of actress and director Simone Berriau, who presented the complete dramatic work of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...

here beginning in 1943. For instance the first production of his 1951 '' The Devil and the Good Lord'' opened here, directed by Louis Jouvet. On her death in 1984 her daughter Helena Bossis took charge; since the death of Bossis in 2008, her husband Daniel Dares has served as director.

Premieres

Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs

*1867: ''

Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...

'' (revised version) by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

*1883: ''Les pommes d'or'' by

Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran (12 April 184017 August 1901) was a French composer best known for several internationally successful comic operas and operettas. After beginning his career in Marseille as an organist, Audran composed religious music and ...

*1887: ''La fiancée des Verts-Poteaux'' by Audran *1891: ''L'oncle Célestin'' by Audran *1892: ''Article de Paris'' by Audran

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre Antoine-Simone Berriau Antoine Antoine Theatres completed in 1866 1866 establishments in France