Jan CLARKE

"Theatre and State Control: the Comédie-Française (1680-1689)"

This will constitute the first in-depth study of the early years of France’s premier cultural institution. The foundation of the Comédie-Française in 1680 marked the culmination of the actors’ mutation from independent travelling players into subsidised crown servants. The benefits were considerable but their capacity for autonomous action was considerably reduced, and the mechanisms and objectives of this new model of cultural production will be analysed. The Comédie-Française had to generate income from its Paris audience while continuing to satisfy its patrons at court. The project will, therefore, also engage with considerations of production policy, reception and taste. This was not a good time to be an actor. France was on the verge of economic collapse, the King neglected the theatre and Church leaders attacked an ‘iniquitous’ art form. Some say that artistically also this was a period of decline: the ‘great’ dramatists were gone, the ‘classics’ were tired, and audiences were more vociferous in their demands. Signs of stress are visible as the three ‘state’ troupes competed for the same audience. And, with the emergence of the unregulated fairground companies, this battle was fought out on stage, in the law courts and in the parterre.