Hotel de Bourgogne

Hôtel de Bourgogne , first theater in Paris. It was built in 1548 by the Confraternity of the Passion, the Paris actors' monopoly. Its first days were marred by a ban on the presentation of religious dramas. The actors carried on in spite of their restricted repertory, which consisted of farces and secular plays. The audiences dwindled, and the players were forced to lease the theater to traveling companies until 1610, when the theater's first permanent company, called the King's Players, was established by Valleran-Lecomte (fl. 1590-1613). In 1634 another company, whose members included the tragedian Montdory and the comedian Jodelet, was established at the Théâtre du Marais, and competition between the two companies arose. However, after the retirement of Montdory, the Bourgogne reigned supreme, with actors such as Bellerose (c.1600-1670), Floridor (1608-72), and Montfleury (1600-1667) setting the style of the day. The arrival in 1658 of Molière interrupted this reign. The Théâtre du Marais combined with the Molière faction to challenge the Bourgogne hegemony. In 1680, however, the companies merged to form the Comédie Française .

Bourgogne, Théâtre de l'Hôtel de, the first theatre in Paris, built in 1548 in the ruins of the palace of the Dukes of Burgundy in the rue Mauconseil for occupation by the Confrérie de la Passion. The theatre was long and narrow, some 102 ft. long and about 42 ft. wide. The total stage depth from front edge to back wall would have been approximately 43 ft. and the acting area even more restricted. The greater part of the auditorium was occupied by a pit in which the spectators stood; at the back, on a base of only 10 ft., were sharply rising tiers of benches. There were two rows of boxes, seven down each side and five along the back in each row—38 in all. Both stage and auditorium were lit by candles which had to be snuffed frequently during the performance. The medieval open-air multiple setting was still in vogue, in a cramped and curved indoor version which forced the actors to declaim downstage.

As soon as the new theatre was ready for occupation the Confrérie were forbidden to appear in religious plays, on the grounds that the mixture of sacred and profane elements which had by now become general in the mystery plays was bringing religion into disrepute. The company struggled along with farces and secular plays but gradually lost their audiences and towards the end of the 16th century were forced to hire out their hall to travelling companies from the provinces. As early as 1578 Agnan Sarat appeared there, and an English company is believed to have been there 20 years later. The first permanent company to occupy the theatre was that of Valleran-Lecomte, known as the King's Players; it reigned supreme in Paris until in 1634 the Théâtre du Marais opened under Montdory. His early retirement again left the Hôtel de Bourgogne, under Belleville's successors Floridor and Montfleury, in an unchallenged position until the arrival of Molière in Paris in 1658. Many of the outstanding plays of the 17th century were first seen there, until in 1680 the company was finally merged with the other actors in Paris to form the Comédie-Française. The stage of the Hôtel de Bourgogne was then occupied intermittently by the Comédie-Italienne until 1783.

Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris, see BOURGOGNE.