The Théâtre de l'Athénée is a theatre at 7 rue Boudreau, in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

. Renovated in 1996 and classified a historical monument, the Athénée inherits an artistic tradition marked by the figure of Louis Jouvet who directed the theatre from 1934 to 1951. During the period when he was director, it became known as the Athenée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet.

History

The current Théâtre de l'Athénée was constructed from a foyer (part of the former

Éden-Théâtre The Éden-Théâtre was a large theatre (4,000 seats) in the rue Boudreau, Paris, built at the beginning of the 1880s by the architects William Klein and Albert Duclos (1842–1896) in a style influenced by orientalism. It was demolished in 189 ...

), which was converted into an intimate theatre in 1893 by the architect Stanislas Loison with further modifications carried out by the architect Paul Fouquiau in 1894. It opened on 31 December 1894 under the name Théâtre de la Comédie-Parisienne. Oscar Wilde's play '' Salomé'' (originally written in French) was premiered there on 11 February 1896 in a staging by

Lugné-Poe Aurélien-Marie Lugné (27 December 1869 19 June 1940), known by his stage and pen name Lugné-Poe, was a French actor, theatre director, and scenic designer. He founded the landmark Paris theatre company, the Théâtre de l'Œuvre, which produce ...

's theatre group, the

Théâtre de l'Œuvre The Théâtre de l'Œuvre is a Paris theatre on the Right Bank, located at 3, Cité Monthiers, entrance 55, rue de Clichy, in the 9° arrondissement. It is commonly conflated and confused with the late-nineteenth-century theater company named Th� ...

. The location had become rather unsafe, as demolition work on the Éden-Théâtre was in progress all around it. The police considered banning the performances due to the risk of fire or accident. Their concerns were somewhat reduced by the construction of a temporary 12-meter-long passageway from the theatre to the rue Boudreau. Later that year the construction work on the site of the former Éden theatre was finally completed by Fouquiau, and the theatre was reconstituted as the Athénée-Comique, "from the name of a notoriously frivolous, perhaps immoral, establishment nearby that had to close ten years earlier" ee_Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe).html" ;"title="Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe).html" ;"title="ee ee_Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe)">Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe).html"_;"title="ee_Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe)">ee_Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe)Hartnoll_1983,_"Athénée,_Théâtre_d_l'",_p._40._The_theatre_was_renamed_Athénée_in_1899._For_the_first_40_years_it_was_the_home_of_Comédie_en_vaudevilles.html" ;"title="Théâtre de l'Athénée (rue Scribe)">ee Théâtre de l'Athénée (rue Scribe)">Théâtre_de_l'Athénée_(rue_Scribe).html" ;"title="ee Théâtre de l'Athénée (rue Scribe)">ee Théâtre de l'Athénée (rue Scribe)Hartnoll 1983, "Athénée, Théâtre d l'", p. 40. The theatre was renamed Athénée in 1899. For the first 40 years it was the home of Comédie en vaudevilles">''vaudevilles'', comedies, and melodramas. In 1934 Louis Jouvet took control of the theatre and made it famous. He continued to produce and perform there (not exclusively, however), until his death in 1951. Among the premieres under Jouvet were several plays by Jean Giraudoux, including ''Tessa (play), Tessa'' (14 November 1934), ''La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu'' (''The Trojan War Will Not Take Place''; 21 November 1935), ''Supplément au voyage de Cook'' (''The Virtuous Island''; 21 November 1935), '' Electre'' (13 May 1937), '' L'impromptu de Paris'' (3 December 1937), '' Ondine'' (3 May 1939), and ''

La folle de Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woma ...

'' (''The Madwoman of Chaillot''; 22 December 1945), as well as

Marcel Achard Marcel Achard (5 July 1899 – 4 September 1974) was a French playwright and screenwriter whose popular sentimental comedies Garzanti p. 3 maintained his position as a highly recognizable name in his country's theatrical and literary circles ...

's ''Le corsaire'' (25 March 1938) and

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

's '' Les bonnes'' (''The Maids''; 19 April 1947). One of Jouvet's most successful revivals was

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's ''

L'école des femmes ''The School for Wives'' (french: L'école des femmes; ) is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palai ...

'' (''The School for Wives''; 9 May 1936; 446 performances, plus another 229 on tour), in which Jouvet performed the role of Arnolphe.

Pierre Renoir Pierre Renoir (March 21, 1885 – March 11, 1952) was a French stage and film actor. He was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and elder brother of the film director Jean Renoir. He is also noted for being the first ...

, who had been an actor in Jouvet's troupe, was artistic director, briefly, from 1951 until his death the following year. In the 2000s the Théâtre Athénée presented revivals of operetta and musical comedy, among which the Brigands company produced ''

Le docteur Ox ''Le docteur Ox'' is an opéra bouffe in three acts and six tableaux of 1877 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Arnold Mortier and Philippe Gille, adapted from the 1872 short story '' Une fantaisie du docteur Ox'' by Jul ...

'' (2003), ''Ta Bouche'' (2004), ''Toi c'est moi'' (2005) and ''Arsène Lupin Banquier'' (2007).L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918–1940)
accessed 9 August 2012

References

Sources

* * Garreau, Joseph E. (1984a). "Genet, Jean" in Hochman 1984, vol. 2, pp. 250–254. * Garreau, Joseph E. (1984b). "Giraudoux, Jean" in Hochman 1984, vol. 2, pp. 316–324. * Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor (1983). ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (fourth edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Hochman, Stanley, editor (1984). ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama'' (second edition, 5 volumes). New York: McGraw-Hill. . * Lecomte, Louis-Henry (1905). ''Histoire des théâtres 1402–1904. Notice préliminaire''. Paris: Daragon
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Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. * Liebowitz Knapp, Bettina (1957). ''Louis Jouvet: Man of the Theatre''. New York: Columbia University Press. . *

Sadie, Stanley Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, editor (1992). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. . * Tydeman, William; Price, Steven (1996). ''Wilde: Salome'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .

External links

Louis Jouvet et le Théâtre de l'Athénée
(in French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre De L'Athenee Athenee Buildings and structures in the 9th arrondissement of Paris Art Nouveau architecture in Paris Athenee Athenee