Palais-Royal, Théâtre du

Palais-Royal, Théâtre du, Paris, originally a small private playhouse in the home of Cardinal Richelieu, which was rebuilt at great expense in the last years of his life, with superb interior decorations and all the newest stage machinery. It held about 600, and was formally inaugurated in 1641 with a spectacular performance of Desmarets's Mirame in the presence of Louis XIII and his Court. After Richelieu's death in the following year the theatre became the property of the King, and was used intermittently for Court entertainments until 1660, when it was given to Molière in place of the demolished Petit-Bourbon. It remained in use until 1670, when it was rebuilt and enlarged and equipped with the new machinery necessary for productions of opera and spectacular musical plays. It reopened with Molière's machine play Psyché (1671) and Molière played there in Le Malade imaginaire on the night of his death, 17 Feb. 1673. Lully, who held the monopoly of music in Paris, immediately claimed the theatre to house his new Academy of Music, and it was called by that name until it was burnt down in 1763. Rebuilt, it was again destroyed by fire in 1781. In 1784 the whole area occupied by the Palais-Royal was reconstituted by its owner, the Duc de Chartres (later Philippe-Égalité), cousin of Louis XVI, and several theatres were built there, most of which at some time called themselves the Palais—Royal. One, which opened in 1790 as the Variétés-Amusantes, was later occupied by Talma and his pro-Revolutionary comrades as the Théâtre de la République. It later became the Comédie-Française. Another Palais-Royal, which opened in 1831 after having had a variety of other names, specialized in vaudeville and farce, and among other plays witnessed the first nights of Labiche's famous comedy Un chapeau de paille d'Italie (1851) and of many farces. In England towards the end of the 19th century the term ‘Palais-Royal farce’ was used for such broadly suggestive adaptations from the French as The Pink Dominoes (1877) and Feydeau's The Girl from Maxim's (1902). The fortunes of the theatre declined somewhat during the 20th century, until in 1958 it was restored to house Barrault's company on its return from an extended tour abroad. It is one of the largest and best preserved 19th-century playhouses in Paris, and is now used for the presentation of light comedies and boulevard plays.