Molière's company (''La Troupe de Molière'') was the theatrical company which formed around

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 great writers in the French language and world liter ...

from 1648 onwards, when he was performing in the French provinces after the failure of the Illustre Théâtre in 1645. In 1658 the company moved to Paris and, after a successful performance on 24 October 1658 in front of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, was allowed to share the large hall in the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon with the Italian players of Tiberio Fiorillo. At this time Molière's company became known as the Théâtre de Monsieur, since their official sponsor was the King's brother Philippe, Duke of Orléans, known as Monsieur. When the Petit Bourbon was demolished in 1660 to make way for the eastern expansion of the

, Molière's troupe was allowed to use the abandoned Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The latter theatre had originally been built by

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

in 1641. After Molière's death in 1673, his widow Armande Béjart and the actor La Grange kept the remnants of the company together, merging with the players from the Théâtre du Marais and moving to the Théâtre de Guénégaud. In 1680 the troupe of the Hôtel de Bourgogne joined the players at the Guénégaud, giving birth to the Comédie-Française.

Provinces

Paris

In 1680, by order of

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, the troupe at the Hôtel de Bourgogne merged into those already gathered by

and the Théâtre du Marais. The larger company allowed daily shows, and even to play to the court and to the city on the same day. Thus the Comédie-Française was born.

Actors

By date of joining the troupe:

Repertoire

The company's repertoire was not mainly comic. In 1659, its first full year based in Paris, it put on (grouped by genre) the following plays, seemingly its provincial repertoire too:

Tragedy

It is notable there are more tragedies than comedies in the repertoire. * ''Alcionée'', by

Pierre Du Ryer Pierre du Ryer (c.1606 – 6 November 1658) was a French dramatist. Life and works Du Ryer was born in Paris in about 1606. His early comedies are loosely modelled on those of Alexandre Hardy, but after the production of the ''Cid'' (1636) he b ...

* '' Le Cid'', by

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

* '' Cinna'', by

* ''Héraclius'', by

* ''

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

'', by

* ''Marianne'', by

Tristan L'Hermite :''See also François Tristan l'Hermite'' Tristan l'Hermite (died ) was a French political and military figure of the late Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to ...

* ''La Mort de Crispe'', by François de Grenaille * '' La Mort de Pompée'', by

* ''Oreste et Pilade'', by François-Joseph de Chancel * ''Rodogune'', by

* ''Scévole'', by

Pierre du Ryer Pierre du Ryer (c.1606 – 6 November 1658) was a French dramatist. Life and works Du Ryer was born in Paris in about 1606. His early comedies are loosely modelled on those of Alexandre Hardy, but after the production of the ''Cid'' (1636) he b ...

* ''Venceslas'', by

Jean Rotrou Jean Rotrou (21 August 1609 – 28 June 1650) was a French poet and tragedian. Life Rotrou was born at Dreux, city of the current department of Eure-et-Loir, in Centre-Val de Loire region. He studied at Dreux and at Paris, and, though three ye ...

* ''Zénobie'', by Jean Magnon

Tragi-comedy

* ''Don Bertrand de Cabrère'', by

Comedy

* ''Le Campagnard'', by Gillet de La Tessonerie * ''La Folle Gageure'', by

François Le Métel de Boisrobert François le Métel de Boisrobert (1 August 1592 – 30 March 1662) was a French poet, playwright, and courtier. Life He was born in Caen. He trained as a lawyer, later practising for a time in Rouen. He traveled to Paris in 1622 and establishe ...

* ''L’Héritier ridicule'', by Paul Scarron * ''Don Japhet d’Arménie'', by Paul Scarron * '' Jodelet ou le Maître valet'', by Paul Scarron * ''Jodelet prince'', by Thomas Corneille * ''Le Gouvernement de Sancho Pansa'', by Guyon Guérin de Bouscal * '' Le Médecin malgré lui'', by

* ''

Le Menteur ''The Liar'' () is a play by Pierre Corneille that was first performed in 1644. It was based on ''La Verdad Sospechosa'' by the Spanish-American playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, which was published in 1634. Summary Dorante, the eponymous quas ...

'', by

* '' Les Visionnaires'', by Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin.

Farce

It is also noteworthy that there are only three works by Molière himself in the company's repertoire at this point, though by 1673 30 of its 90 play repertoire were by him (many inspired by the comedies above). * ''Gros-René écolier'', by

* '' Le Médecin volant'', by

Sources

* Henry Lyonnet, ''Dictionnaire des comédiens français'', Bibliothèque de la revue Universelle Internationale Illustrée, Paris et Genève, 1902–1908 * Pierre Larousse, ''Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe siecle'' * ''Théâtre complet de Molière'', Le Livre de poche.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moliere's company Theatre companies in France 1648 establishments in France 1680 disestablishments