Comédie Francaise is the oldest theater in Europe, located in the capital of France. Founded in the second half of the 17th century by order of Louis XIV. The theater has been operating for more than three centuries and is a famous landmark of the capital. The official name is Theatre-Française.

In Paris, the Comédie Francaise is the only one that operates at the expense of the state budget. It is located in the heart French city- at the Palais Royal. Informally, this cultural institution is called the "House of Molière", since before its formation, his troupe held concerts in the mansion.

History of creation

After the death of the famous playwright Molière, there were two drama theaters in Paris. These were the Genego Hotel and its competitor, the Burgundy Hotel. By decree of the king in 1680, the drama theaters were united. At the end of August of the same year, a troupe was already performing on the Francaise stage, which included the most famous actors France. All the works of the great Jean-Baptiste Molière were presented at the theater stage.

Thanks to the merger, the new French theater began to receive an annual allowance from the king, which made it possible to present performances by foreign authors. Monopoly existence and receipt of funds from the state allowed the house theatrical art gain unprecedented popularity around the world.

Comedie Francaise today

The House of Molière is one of the few drama theaters in Europe where you can see performances from various times - from antiquity to the present. In addition to plays by French playwrights, you can see the works of foreign authors. Directors from all over the world are invited to the Moliere house.

So in 2006, Russian director P. Fomenko staged A. Ostrovsky's comedy "The Forest" here. Also from foreign plays in the house of Moliere were shown " The Cherry Orchard» A. Chekhov, «Marriage» N. Gogol and others. But still, most of the theatrical performances are in French. The theater practices showing performances in films. The new season will present the works of the great classics: Molière, Shakespeare, Racine, Marivaux.

Practical information

Comédie Francaise is located in the central part of Paris on Rue de Richelieu, opposite the Louvre. It will not be difficult to get to it - many bus routes go through the Palais Royal. Française can also be reached by metro to the Palais Royal – Musee du Louvre station.

Ticket prices range from 6 to 42 euros. It is possible to buy a ticket for the performance on the official website - https://www.comedie-francaise.fr/, as well as at the theater box office.

If you did not purchase a ticket on time, then some time before the start of the performance, you can go to the box office and find out if there are empty seats. It is possible that someone returned the ticket to the box office.

For young people under the age of 28, you can get free access to theatrical performance on the first Monday of the month.

COMEDY FRANCEZE(La Comédie Française; official name is Théâtre Français), the French national theater, one of the oldest theaters Paris. Founded in 1680 by decree of Louis XIV.

By the 17th century the French national theater has not yet fully formed, despite the surge in the development of drama (P. Corneille, J. Racine, J.-B. Molière) - the general aesthetic system of the professional theater (as at the same time in England) was undergoing a period of formation. The Renaissance, which had a huge impact on the development of the theater, came to France a century and a half later than to Italy, and the French theater was under the influence of secular and clerical authorities. Regulation at this time was experienced by all types of French art, this was emphasized by the creation of Academies. The situation was complicated by the fact that Louis XIV was a theater lover, so that the patronage of the authorities turned into strict control. This is confirmed by the tragic life story of J.B. Moliere, who managed, maneuvering between the demands of the king and the ambitions of the troupe, to keep his theater at a high professional level. After his death in 1673, the French theater was not better times. The former troupe of Molière, which united with the troupe of the Theater Marais and settled on the stage of the Hotel Genego, competed with the troupe of the Burgundy Hotel, competing for the favor of the king. The life of the two Parisian theaters consisted of intrigues and strife, audience interest was catastrophically reduced.

To preserve the national theater on August 18, 1680, Louis XIV signed a decree ordering the merger of the troupes "Genego" and "Hotel Burgundy". IN new theater Only the best actors moved on. The decree granted the theater the monopoly right to show performances in Paris. The Theater of French Comedians (original name) received a royal subsidy of 12,000 livres and management - superintendents appointed by the king, who determined the repertoire, the composition of the troupe and creative issues. Already on August 25 in the updated line-up were played Phaedra Racine and Orleans carriages La Chapelle.

The troupe included 15 actors and 12 actresses, including M. Chanmele, M. Baron, P. Poisson, Ch. Lagrange, N. Oterosh, K. Rosimon, A. Bejart and others. it was an acting partnership (société). Incomes were divided into 24 shares (the distribution of shares was handled by management); the main participants in the partnership, societers, were entitled to receive a share or part of it. The troupe included the so-called. boarders - actors who were invited to individual roles.

This organizational structure of the theater was preserved almost all the time of the existence of the theater. It changed only once, for several years, during the French bourgeois revolution of the late 18th century. Adopted by the Constituent Assembly in January 1791 Decree on Freedom of Theaters renamed the Comédie Francaise the Theater of the Nation and abolished its royal privileges and subordination to the court. In 1792, the political struggle within the theater led the troupe to a division into royalists and republicans. The actor F.J.Talma, who professed the ideas of revolutionary heroics and citizenship of theatrical art, together with a group of his like-minded people (J.B.Dugazon, F.M.R.Vestris and others), left the Comédie Francaise and organized the Theater of the Republic. In 1793, the actors of the Theater of Nations were arrested by the Jacobin authorities for staging reactionary drama and were sentenced to the guillotine. They were saved from death by an amateur actor Labussière, but they were released in 1794, after the overthrow of Robespierre. And in 1799 both parts of the troupe were reunited; The theater was given back its original name. The status and structure of the Comédie Française was confirmed in the "Decree of Moscow" by Napoleon, signed in 1812, during a military campaign against Russia. This decree emphasizes the importance of theatrical art (including its ideological component) for the formation and strengthening of statehood.

In the 17th century the monopoly of work in Paris and the royal subsidy gave the theater huge financial advantages. However, creative and everyday life theater was strictly regulated. 40 statutory rules determined the weekly meetings of the troupe with the obligatory presence of each actor, the duty of socéeters to take part in performances daily, the inability to refuse the assigned role, etc. For disrespectful attitude towards colleagues and the use of vocabulary "not accepted among noble people", members of the troupe paid fines that benefit the poor. Fines were also imposed for being late.

In addition to the troupe and senior administrative staff (treasurer, secretary and controller, nominated by societers from their staff and performing their duties on a voluntary basis), the theater had big state hired employees: concierge, cashier, illuminator, poster printer, porter, etc.

Since 1802, the theater has been based on Rue Richelieu in the Palais Royal area. Comédie Francaise found himself in the room where Molière worked. Here, the theater had a main stage with a hall for 750 seats and a smaller hall, about 300 seats - the Theater of the Old Dovecote, as well as a small hall with 100 seats in the Louvre.

The second, almost official, name of the theater is the House of Moliere, which is often called the Theater of the Word (Théâtre du Mot). This emphasizes the creative tendencies followed by the collective: reliance on high drama, in-depth attention to language, speech, revered as a national treasure.

The privileged position of the theater made it possible to attract the best actors of France to the troupe. Almost all names French actors, who have gained world fame over the past three hundred years, are somehow connected with the Comédie Francaise: M. Duclos, A. Lecouvreur, A. Lequin, M. Dumesnil, I. Clairon, J. B. Brizard, Mars, C. Duchenois, Georges , E.Rachel, S.Bernard, J.Mounet-Sully, K.Coquelin and others. As well as the best French playwrights - J.F. , P. Beaumarchais, V. Hugo, E. Scribe, A. Dumas-son, V. Sardou and others.

The theater experienced a certain crisis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during a period of radical transformation of the world theater. The formation of the director's theater, which forced the whole world to reconsider the basic principles theatrical productions, came into conflict with the original traditions of the theater, when societers also performed the functions of a director, selecting dramaturgical material primarily from the point of view of winning their roles. So, shortly before the creation of the Moscow Art Theater, K.S. Stanislavsky declared the artists of the Comédie Francaise "Moliere's biggest enemies", opposing the pseudo-performing traditions with a fresh directorial reading of dramaturgy.

The first attempt to turn the tide was made by the satirist playwright E. Bourdais, who was appointed in 1936 to the post of general administrator. He invited the brightest avant-garde artists to the theater: J. Copeau, L. Jouvet, C. Dullen and G. Bati. Both in new productions and in work on old performances, they filmed the archaic style, trying to create a creative ensemble from a formal meeting of star actors. However, all four directors did not set themselves the task of radically reshaping the existing organism, they were “outsiders” and did not consider this theater as “their own”. It could be about individual successes of individual performances.

The general reform of the theater is associated with the name of J. Meyer, a student of Jouvet and a graduate of the Paris Conservatory dramatic art, educational institution, which was under the auspices of the Comédie Francaise. He staged his first performances in 1944, and in 1946, after J.L. Barrot left the theater, he was appointed director of classical productions. Meyer worked in the theater for about twenty years, planting a new aesthetic, educating and teaching young actors inside the theater, without interrupting live stage practice. His performances were accompanied by audience success, his work was highly appreciated by critics, linking Meyer's performances with the revival of the national theater. But the desire for unity of creative leadership led to a conflict between the director and the committee of societers, which eventually forced Meyer to leave the theater. However, this period did not pass without a trace; it is believed that today the theater is almost the only classical theater of national scale in the world that does not shy away from experiments. So, in the 1970s, even the productions of the absurdists E. Ionesco and S. Beckett were included in the repertoire. Indirect confirmation of this can be considered an invitation to the theater to the productions of such Russian directors as A. Vasiliev ( Masquerade, 1992 and Amphitryon, 2002) and P. Fomenko ( Forest, 2003).

Today the theater retains its organizational structure. It is managed by the general administrator (now it is M. Bozonne), whose work is controlled by societers (there are no longer 27, but 40). In addition - 20 boarders. According to Bozonnet, "there is no such boarder who would not dream of becoming a societer." Not everyone succeeds - at the annual meeting, at least 21 societers must vote to change the status of the actor. The transition to societers entails changes in the creative status and in the financial situation: their income exceeds the earnings of boarders by 2-3 times. The committee of societers also decides on the transfer of actors to retire.

The theater toured in Russia in 1954, 1969, 1973 and 1985. In 2005, Comedy Francaise became a participant in the Moscow International Chekhov Festival, where he brought the performance Forest staged by P. Fomenko.

Tatyana Shabalina

Palais Royal and Comedie Francaise Theater

Rue Saint-Honoré ends at Place Andr? Malraux, named after French writer and public figure long years former Minister of Culture of France. Standing on the square "Comedy Francaise"(Com?die Fran?aise) - "Moliere's house". It is the only French theater with a permanent company.

Not far away, near the Louvre itself, there is a square and a palace Palais Royal(Palais Royal). Roller skaters gather on the square near the metro exit, musicians and mimes perform. The quarter between the square and the streets of Saint-Honoré (rue Saint-Honor?), Rivoli (rue de Rivoli) and Marengo (rue Marengo) occupies "Louvre Antiquaries"(Le Louvre des Antiquaires) is a large shopping center with antique shops and art galleries.

The Palais Royal was formerly known as the Cardinal's Palace and was built for Richelieu. Dying, the cardinal bequeathed it to the young Louis XIV. The kings did not live here, but members of their families stayed. Today, the State and Constitutional Councils and the Ministry of Culture work in the former Royal Palace.

Sign in courtyard of the Palais Royal you can from the tiny Place Colette. Strange bollards of varying heights with black and white stripes were installed here in 1982. Children use these pieces of Daniel Buren's fantasy as roller-skating obstacles, adults use them to teach little ones how to jump from heights. There are two fountains in front of the entrance to the garden: piles of metal balls lie on low flat stands, between which water flows.

The spacious garden is surrounded on three sides by uniform facades of houses late XVIII century. In their arcades - cafes, restaurants, boutiques and art galleries. The writers Cocteau and Colette lived in the apartments of the upper floors. The central flower beds and the fountain of the Palais Royal Garden are surrounded on both sides by dark chestnut alleys with benches. At noon, business people relax with a newspaper or have lunch, on weekends families with small children walk, all year round- tourists.

In the Beaujolais Gallery (Galerie Beaujolais) is Le Grand V?four- the oldest restaurant in Paris (1780). Inside, the interior of the times of the Directory has been preserved: paintings on the walls and ceiling, gilding, crystal chandeliers. Napoleon, Hugo, Cocteau, Sartre were among the clients at different times. The owner of one of the boutiques in the Montpensier Gallery (Galerie Montpensier, N44-45) is engaged in the restoration of hats of various styles and eras. In addition, there are hundreds of wedding dresses. There is also the gallery "French Flags" (Les Drapeaux de France, N13-15), where you can buy a miniature mustachioed grenadier from the time of Napoleon I with a fluttering banner in his hands. In the Valois Gallery (Galerie Valois), where Charlotte Corday once bought a dagger to stab Marat, now there is a rather expensive Restaurant du Palais Royal, with good food, fresh flowers on the tables and a beautiful view from the windows

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XVI CENTURY PALEI-ROYAL - MUSE DU LOUVR Light and shadows of the Renaissance When you go up the street from the metro station Palais-Royal - Musée du Louvre, just look at the "arbor of the Night Owls" standing at the exit to understand: we will talk about art. Built on Place Colette in

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What is the Comédie Francaise? In 1643, the young Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, the son of a royal upholsterer, took the pseudonym Molière and organized a troupe of amateur actors. But since the audience went to his performances, Moliere decided to travel around the provinces. In 1661, Molière and his troupe were

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COMEDY FRANCEZE- (Comedie Francaise), or Theater Francais, a drama troupe in France, the oldest national theater in the world. Established by decree of Louis XIV in 1680, its origins date back to the middle of the 17th century. In 1658, a company of itinerant actors in ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

Comedie Francaise- ("Comédie Francaise") (official name "Theater Français", "Théâtre Français"), the oldest national theater in France. Founded in 1680 in Paris by decree of Louis XIV, which united the theater of Molière (formerly merged with the Marais theater) and the theater ... ...

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Comedie Francaise- (Comédie Française), a French national theater that plays both comedies and tragedies. Founded by Louis XIV in 1680. in Paris, revived by Napoleon in 1803. The theater is organized as a cooperative society in which each actor has ... ... Countries of the world. Dictionary

Comedy Francaise (Comedie-Francaise)- (official name of the Theater Francais Theatre Francais), French drama theater. Founded in 1680 in Paris. Became a school of acting and directing. F. J. Talma, Rachel, Sarah Bernard, B. K. Coquelin, L. Jouvet, J. L. Barrot and ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

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On Rue de Richelieu is the National Theater Comédie Française - one of the oldest theaters in Paris and a favorite place for Russian tourists. Perhaps people from Russia love the Comedie Francaise so much because it is a repertory theater, and this is a tradition of the original Russian theater, which is quite difficult to constantly maintain, but at the same time much more interesting.

In the 17th century, France experienced a rapid surge in the development of drama, but the national French theater as a professional genre was in its infancy and was not completely formed. He was strongly influenced by both secular and clerical authorities, and all forms of art, one way or another, were subject to regulation. In addition, King Louis XIV of France was a famous theater lover, and often his patronage turned into excessive tight control. A vivid evidence of the struggle of real art with the imposed framework of "patronage" is the tragic life story of Molière, who skillfully maneuvered between the ambitions of the troupe and the requirements of the king, while keeping his theater at a very high professional level.

After the death of Jean-Baptiste Molière in 1673, interest in French theater began to fade away. This was due, first of all, to the fact that the Molière troupe merged with the Marais theater troupe and constantly competed with the Burgundy Hotel theater. Their main task was to achieve the favor of the king. The life of these two theaters, filled with intrigues and trials, became less and less interesting for the audience.

In the summer of 1680, Louis XIV, by his decree, united both troupes, leaving in the new national theater the best actors. The Théâtre des Comedians Française, as the Théâtre Comédie Française was originally called, now had a monopoly on shows in Paris.

In the nineties of the 18th century, as a result of the political struggle that arose within the theater, the troupe split into two camps: the republicans, who left the main staff and organized the so-called Theater of the Republic, and the royalists, who were listed in the troupe of the Comédie Francaise Theater, now renamed the Theater Nations. The actors of the Theater of the Nation, who participated in the production of reactionary drama, were eventually arrested and sentenced to the guillotine. However, they all soon received their freedom after Robespierre was overthrown. So, having united again in 1799, both parts of the troupe began to work in the theater with the same name. The "Moscow Decree" of Bonaparte, signed by him in 1812 during the anti-Russian campaign, confirmed the newly formed structure and status of the Comédie Française. This document emphasizes the great importance of theatrical art for the strengthening and formation of the French state.

The second, almost official, name of the theater is the "House of Molière", or, as it is otherwise called, the Theater of the Word. This fact clearly highlights the trends followed by creative team, relying in his work on high dramaturgy, increased attention to speech and language, which are revered by the French as a true national treasure.
Therefore, if you want to join the real French culture, while getting great pleasure from the virtuosic game of professional actors, then the Comédie Francaise Theater will become the best platform to make these wishes come true.