The Bouffes du Nord is a theatre at 37 bis, boulevard de la Chapelle, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris located near the

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

. It has been listed since 1993 as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

History

Founded in 1876, it had an erratic existence and seemed that it would never get off the ground. In its first decade it had fifteen different artistic directors, the most notorious being Olga Léaud who fled the theatre after her production had failed, taking the contents of the theatre safe with her. The theatre's fortunes were revived briefly in 1885 by the arrival of Abel Ballet as the director. In 1896, Abel Ballet left the direction of Bouffes North. The two actors

Emmanuel Clot Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...

and G. Dublay succeeded him. In 1904, the theatre, under the direction of its directors, was entirely restored, repainted, and equipped with electricity. The theatre was renamed the Théâtre Molière and authors such as Arthur Bernède and

Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...

were assembled to write plays for the newly named theatre. In August 1914 the Théâtre Molière, like other theatres, closed its doors. Until 1974, the theatre was inhabited by a number of theatre companies, none of which were able to afford the repairs and maintenance needed for it to conform with safety regulations. British director

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

and French producer

Micheline Rozan Micheline Rozan (11 September 1928 – 7 September 2018) was a French stage and film producer who co-founded the International Centre for Theatre Research with British director Peter Brook. Early life Rozan was born into a Jewish family who ...

took over the theatre in 1974 as the home for their theatre company, the

International Centre for Theatre Research The International Centre for Theatre Research, sometimes also known as The International Centre for Theatre Creation, was founded in 1970 by Peter Brook and Micheline Rozan. It is often abbreviated to the acronym CIRT, as in French the group is cal ...

. A renovation followed. In 2008, Brook announced that he would slowly hand the reins over to

Olivier Mantei Olivier Mantei (born 24 February 1965, in Nantes) is a contemporary French director of theatre and opera stages. Since 2015, he has been director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Honours Mantei was made an officier of the National Order of Merit ...

, the deputy head of the Paris opera company

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

and head of the musical programming at the Bouffes du Nord, and Olivier Poubelle, a theatre entrepreneur specialising in modern music. His farewell production was ''A Magic Flute''.

References

External links

*
"Peter Brook to hand over Paris's Bouffes du Nord theatre"
''The Guardian'', 17 December 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2011. * Angelique Chrisafis
"Peter Brook says a long goodbye to his Paris theatre"
''The Guardian'', 17 December 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
The Bouffes du Nord Theatre in Paris
- Illustration of Bouffes du Nord {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouffes du Nord Theatres in Paris Theatres in the 10th arrondissement of Paris Monuments and memorials in Paris

History

See also

References

External links