A descriptive analysis of the position the théâtre libre occupied in the 19th century French drama

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A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OP THE POSITION THE THEATRE LIBRE OCCUPIED IN 19th CENTURY FRENCH DRAMA

A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Department of Drama The University of Southern California

In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts

by Harve Bertram Guild June 1950

UMI Number: EP55124

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

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UMI EP55124 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

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77m thesis, written

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MASTER OF ARTS

Dean

Faculty Committee

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

I. THE PROBLEM, ORGANIZATION AND METHODOLOGY..». Th© problem

1

.......... ........

1

Statement of the problem. ........

1

Significance of the study.............

2

Organization and methodology.. .........

II.

3

Organization of material ....

3

Method of procedure.........

4

TRENDS IN THE FRENCH THEATRE 1800-1875.......

6

Theatre from 1800-1830......

6

State theatres ..... Boulevard theatre

6 .....

Romanticism........

8 10

The rise of romanticism in the theatre...

10

Romantic drama............

12

Decline of romanticism...................

13

The well made play. .....

14

Eugene Scribe ( 1 7 9 1 - 1 0 6 1 1 4 Victorian sardou {1831-1908)...«.....

16

Beginning of realism.......................

17

Alexander Dumas fils ( 1 8 2 4 - 1 8 9 5 1 7 Emile Augier (1820-1889)...____

19

CHAPTER

PAGE Stage practices during the nineteenth century.. A

c

....................... t

i

Stage settings.

g

.

21

...............

Stage lighting. Costuming.

n

21

....

23 -

24

... ................. •

25

Physical qualities of the theatre........

25

Opportunity for new talent*........... Summary.................................... III.

26 27

THE RISE OF NATURALISM IN THE THEATRE OP FRANCE.

..............

Early practitioners of naturalistic drama..

29 30

Initial attempts at natural ism In the theatre.

.....................

30

Naturalism and Emile Zola ...........

32

Naturalism in the theatre*........*.....*

32

Emil© zola (1840-1902)............. Henri Becque.

34

............

37

The theories and plays of Henri Becque (1837-1899 Summary. IV.

37 ..............

42

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND DRAMA OF THE THEATRE LIBRE.

........ *

44

CHAPTER

PAGE Chronological history of the TheStre Libre.

.......

45

Beginning of the Thhatre Libre*.......

45

Purposes of the ThbStre Libre*............

49

Ideas on production end drama...........

49

Philosophy of the fheatro Libra.*......*

51

Drama of the Theatre Libra. ....

54

Types of drama given in the Th^oltre Libre. *...... *

S 7.

.......

54

Plays given by the Theatre Libre......

62

u

m

m

a

r

y

.

70

THEORIES OF PRODUCTION INNOVATED AND PRACTICED ■AT THE THEATRE LIBRE.

....

73

Theatre construction.

.....

74

Theatres occupied by the TheStre Libre,.

74

Actors and acting of the TheStre Libre....

77

Stage practices In the Theatre Libre......

91

Theories of the naturalists on stage design.

....

Lighting in the Theatre Libre.

91 ...

97

Costuming in the Thb&fcre Libre#*.......,

99

Makeup in the Thedtre Libre.............

100

Decline of the Theltere Libre......

101

CHAPTER VI,

PAGE

SUMMARY

Mm COHCLtBIORS..............

Conclusion, BIBLIOGRAPHY.

.....

........ ........

X07 115 121

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM, ORGANIZATION AND METHODOLOGY There have been a number of books that have devoted .chapters to answering the question, "what place does the Theatre Libre occupy in the evolution of the theatre?" Some of these have taken a long-range view and attached little importance to Antoine*s endeavors,

others, such

as Adolph© Thallasao and S. Waxxaan, have written entire books, praising his contributions too wholeheartedly, or have dismissed both naturalism and the Theatre Libre as impermanent and unimportant influences on the theatre.

It

was the purpose of this study to attempt to establish the actual position which the TheStre Libre is entitled to have In the evolution of the theatre in nineteenth century Prance. I. THE PROBLEM Statement of the problem. This study will endeavor (1) to show the trends in French drama during the nine­ teenth centuryI (2) to present a clear picture of the philosophy and practices of the TheStre Libre, stressing the innovations mad© in that theatre; (3) to evaluate the influence of the Theatre Libre on the theatre of France

2

and Europe* Significance of the study* Throughout human history man has understood events through the eyes of his own time* The people who live during a particular period of history when an important happening occurs give their opinion of it.

But those who live ten or a hundred years later can

see other truths and relationships, that are a result of a greater objectivity and a larger canvas which time has provided*

However, despite time *s cooling effect and

larger perspective, changeable temperaments and inclina­ tions still continue to see epochs through a multitude of prisms• This is due to the individuality of human beings and most certainly happens in the field of drama, where so many variables exist* Many writers have viewed the The'atre Libre from an historical standpoint and assessed the contributions made by it*

But none of the books that they have written has

given the exact position which the first "free theatre” occupied in French dramatic evolution during the nineteenth century*

It was with these factors in mind that this

investigator determined to make this study*

The year 1887

probably marked a turning point in theatrical history, and a thorough understanding of the changes which took place

s at that time will give an added insight into both the theatre of yesterday and today. II.

ORGANIZATION AND METHODOLOGY

Organization of material. in order to evaluate the true significance of the Theatre Libre, it was thought desirable to devote one chapter to analyzing the trends of the nineteenth century French theatre • in it the back­ ground, which on© should be acquainted with in order to understand the advent of naturalism, is discussed.

The

rise and fall of romanticism, the "well made play” and the initial attempts at realism, are shown in their relationship to the naturalistic drama which followed them.

The Second chapter is devoted to considering the

work done by the chief theorists and writers in natural­ ism*® advent, while the body of the thesis, which follows, is concerned with the contributions made to theatre arts by Antoine. There is no space allotted to giving the exact date and criticism of each performance.

Such information

can readily be found in "Antoine and the Thittre Libre."1 The Third chapter will further orient the reader with the rise of naturalism in Franc©, while In the Fourth chapter i

1 Samuel waxman, Antoine and tho Theatre Libre (Cambridge: Harvard university press, 1^26}

4 the discussion will center around the way naturalism manifested Itself in-the philosophy of the Thedtre Libre* The Fifth chapter, which is to be the final chapter in the body of the work, -will concern itself with production methods employed in the ThdStre Libre.

The last portion

of the study is used to evaluate the influence of the Thedtre Libre, and also to determine what position it occupied in the evolution of nineteenth century French drama* Method of procedure* The method that has been employed in the writing of this thesis is both historical and analytical*

It was thought that a combination of these

forms of procedure would be the best way to ascertain the true position of the The&tre Libre In modem times*

If

there was no analysis of the performances, and data were simply accrued to give a picture of the times, this study would result In a compilation of facts which would reveal little original insight on the part of the investigator and permit no new interpretation of the changes made in the TheStre Libre.

An approach such as this could never

fulfill the stated purpose of this study and would answer the questions raised in the same way they have already been answered; an accomplishment which would give little evidence

5 of any native discernment or understanding on the part of this investigator*

The historical method was chosen In

order to properly envision the evolution of the theatre in France during the nineteenth century*

CHAPTER II TRENDS IN THE FRENCH THEATRE 1800-1875 The drama of Franc© during the nineteenth century was changeable and evolved In many directions.

But, as It

has always done, the theatre reflected the desires and lives of the people of Its time*

The beginning of the

century found Napoleon In power, a dominating monarch, who wanted and maintained an imitative classicism in the state theatres#

The same theatres, seventy-five years later,

after two revolutions in the theatrical world, were Just as devoted to the watered down, instructive realism of Emile Augier (i.820-1880) and Dumas fils (1824-1895).

How

this great change came about and the various steps taken along the way will be considered in this chapter* I. THEATRE FROM 1800-1830 State theatres* At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the theatre in France was a product of the Revolution* ft had thrown out everything save the three unities and the pseudo-classic tragedy of the day, out of sentimental loyalty, in part, to what it esteemed to be Its ancient Greek and Roman republican antecedents**

£ Barret H« Clark and George Freedley, editors, A History of Modern Drama (London; D* Appleton-Century

Company ihc*"; W4T), pY 134*

7 The classicism, that had originated with Corneille, who had fretted in Its grasp, and which had found its leading exponent in Racine, could not rise any higher within the limits set by the unities*

Consequently, in the state

theatres nslowly hut surely the desire to do nothing out­ side the rules or in any way indecorous, was choking the life out of the drama.”3 Hapoleon wanted to see classicism on the stage as a symbol of the republicanism in prance.

He endeavored

throughout his reign to draw parallels between his advent, and the rise of the democratic epochs in Greece*

But,

besides this comparative longing, Napoleon was a man who loved pomp and ceremony, and the classicists, whatever else they lacked, did provide the grandiose scenic effects which he delighted in. This provision assured the classicists of the foremost position in the French theatrical world, and did much to bring about a decree which placed all theatres under the general government, a conservative body of men who consigned each type of play to a particular theatre and thereby curtailed any new ideas* The downfall of Napoleon and the re-ascendance of 3 Brahder Matthews, French Dramatists of the Nine­ teenth century (New York: bharles' gcrlbner*a 3ons, IB&i), p. 3. " 11 ■

8 the Bourbons to the throne gave rise to the hope that the theatres would be allowed more freedom*

However, the new

king was fearful of future revolutions and tried to keep the same inactive type of drama on the stage?

a drama

which was more noted for its verbosity than anything else, and where the praise of an actor, such as the great Talma, usually was confined to his oratorical style.

The theatre

had become a place of ©locution? The words as Shakespeare was wont to us© without stint, simply and nobly were shunned for around-about pomposity, in its stead were strained and stilted verses, in which an Infantine Idea was swaddled in long robes of verbiage.* Boulevard Theatre. The bourgeois drama of Diderot (1713-1784) had gradually evolved into melodrama by 1800 which, presented in boulevard theatres, afforded the first glimpse of a break with the conventional theatre. There night after night, could be seen plenty of action, mighty deeds, dark treachery, innocence and virtue vindicated, villainy crushed, all amidst gorgeous scenery and stage effects that were realistic, beautiful or deliciously terrifying to the accompani­ ment of music and ballet*5

4 Brarider Matthews, French Dramatists of the Nine­ teenth Century (New York; Charles Scribner*s 3ons,1S§I), pTTH 5 Joseph L* Borgerhoff, editor, Nineteenth century French plays (New York* The century Company," 1931), p» 2.

9 The theatre was the one place where the various stratas of French society could come together and enjoy themselves• The melodramas usually consisted of three acts# The first of these explained the main elements of the plot (plots that featured extreme intrigue and whose themes invariably proved the triumph of virtue)*

The

second act depicted the terrible trials the innocent victim or victims had to face in life* The third brought him (or her) to happiness and doled out punishment to the villain# Music accompanied the entrances and exits made by the actors in order to punctuate their arrivals and departures. The most popular of the boulevard theatres was run by Guilbert de pix^recourts• In it, one could see the most fantastic cabals and striking action in Paris,

Many of

the spectacles were graphic adaptations of Shakespeare, Schiller and Manzoni;

playwrights who had had little

regard for the unities and who were to have a decided effect on the French mind. Taking a close look at the times in the early part of the nineteenth century, one can see throughout France the growth of a middle class:

a group which was coming

to need a theatre that would be truly representative of themselves*

The melodrama, with Its sensational

characters and Incident furnished them only with momentary titillation.

At the same time, the state theatres, which

were at the opposite end of the pole, put on plays that displayed a dried-up conformity to the rules and showed little relevance to actual life.

It remained for someone

to take the initial steps to close the great gap between them*

Steps were taken almost simultaneously by Victor

Hugo {1802-1885) who elevated the melodrama into the sphere of romanticism, and Eugene Scribe » cit,, p* 276. 32 ITeel and stoullig, ogu cit,, p» 346* 33 Rene Doumic, pe scribe et de, 1898), p, 231*

k Ibsen (Paris: parrln

most audacious play since Becque*. ' *»& Tante Leontine of Boniface and,Bodin

(May 2,

1890) was welcomed by all as a gay, amusingcomedy*

Even

sarcey enjoyed the play, and when Antoine saw him laughing, he was delighted because it was one of the most revolutionary plays given at the Thhttre Libre*. Of special Interest is the reaction of the critics to Antoiners production of Ibsen*s ghosts (May SO, 1890)* Doumlc called it

an "atrocious play"*54 Hoeland Stoullig

condemned It for

its so-called "

o b s c u r i t y "

gven gareey

said that the play was one to be read and not to be seen* He said that the symbolism employed by Ibsen was entirely beyond him, and that "in the theatre, it is only what one sees that exists".55 In April,

1891, Antoine turned back

toIbsen, and

presented The Wild Duck. This

play was an even greater

failure than Ghosts had been*

poumic5*? called it obscure,

and said it required too great an effort to comprehend It. Sarcey, too, complained that Ibsen lacked the clarity of srjHcrr, p. 315 35 Noe! and Stoullig, op* cit*, p« 462. 36 Sarcey, og. cit*,p* 336. 37 Boumic, op. cit., pp. 315-316.

68 Scribe#

He facetiously wrote:

Ahl that wild duck* Ho one, neither those who heard the play, nor Lindeniaub and Ephraim who translated it, nor the author who wrote it, nor Shakespeare who inspired it, nor God, nor the devil, nor anyone— knows what this wild duck is*38 The high water mark of the rosserie of the theatre Libre was reached in Ancey* s La Dupe (December 21, 1891}* It was the kind of play which turned away from the Theatre Libre many who had been previously drawn to It* However, despite the fact that some of the plays given in the ThhStre Libre were not received very well, in the year 1891, A. C* Townsend was able to write that the Th£&tre Libre "is regarded as a fixed and permanent structure"*39 Francois de Curel*s L*Envers d»une Saint© (February 2, 1892} was one of the more important plays put on in the Theatre Libre*

Jules Lemaitre^O praised it warmly as did

Doumie.41- Filoa, however, thought differently.

Ho wrote;

38 Sarcey, o£. cit*, p. 339.

39 A* C. Townsend, "Paris» Th6£tr© Libre", Harpers Weekly, 35:472, June, 1891. --40 Dramatic Review, Le Journal (Paris) des Debats, February 25, 1892. 41 Doutaic, o£. cit., pp. 197-198.

m 1 am forced to admit that besides having no wit, M. de Corel has hardly any Imagination, that his observation is seldom accurate, and that his dialogue is neither easy, nor natural, nor life-like. He is a "literary" man in the worse sense of the word*.*.^2 Brlsson^S points out, nevertheless, that with the production of L1Envers d*une sainte, M, de Curel was recognized as one of the most distinguished members of the young school of playwrights* on the same program as do Curol*s play, .Blanchette, Brieux* s masterpiece, was presented.

Brieux^ later wrote

that he had peddled this play about in all the theatres of Paris for ten years before Antoine finally put it on* Hauptmann’s The Weavers was the next foreign play to invade the Theitre fibre*

It was given May 29, 1893.

In this play the protagonist is not an Individual but a mob.

Although many of the critics thought the construction

of the play was too loose, they found much in it that was admirable, and the play was an immense success* Another one of Hauptmann*® plays which was presented by Antoine was L*Asaomptlon of Hannelle Mattern (February 1, 1894).

It

42 piibh* o£. clt. p . 129. 43 A* Brisson, portrait intlmea (Paris* A* Colin et ole, 1897). • 44 William Schiofloy, Brieux and Contemporary French Society (London: o. putnara and ’sons , 1917), p. '7';'’"

70 did not have the sensational results of The weavers, but it delighted those who loved fantasy| sarcey45, hor/ever, called it one of the most mediocre of fantasies* The two most significant plays produced under the management of Larochelle were Bail© pabre*s 1*Argent {May 6, 1895} and Le Culvre, by Adam and picard (December 16, 1895)* Antoine*s own opinion of four of the authors of the Theatre Libre was nicely expressed in a letter to Barret H* Clark.

E© wrote:

You asked me in your letter whether the choice of typical plays of the TheStre Libre you have made is a good one* (Clark at the time was compiling a book of representative plays of the Thb&tr© Libre.) Yes, Curol and jullien are representative, while porto-Riche may serve to show something of the variety I attempted to make in our programs« Brieux, of course, Brieux is Theatre Libre.4*5 IV. SUMMARY Although it can be said that the Theatre Libre was an outgrowth of the desire of theatrical people to have a theatre which was free from monetary interest; a theatre where experimentation with new dramatic forms would be

'... '..45" sarcey, op. clt*, p. 396. 46 Barret H. Clark, Four Piays of the Free Theatre (Cincinnati: Stewart and KiSd'Company'* X9I5,'}7”lhtrb*, p.14.

71 possible, the first "free theatre” was really ”a work that was bora by

chance”

*47 However, if chance was the deter­

mining factor in the start of the Theatre Libre, it certainly was not chance that kept it going after it had began* The Theatre Libre continued to operate because it was representative of the naturalistic philosophy of the day. The drama had changed from aristocratic to bourgeois during the century, but by 1370 there was an entirely new field to explore— the poor*

They had been growing in

numbers during the century, and had come to occupy a major interest of the younger dramatists.

The Thesttre Libre was

the only theatre in Paris which would put on plays that would give a true picture of the plight of these unfortun­ ate people« Therefore, the new playwrights sent their work to Antoine, and made the Theatre Libre their home. Most of the plays presented at the Th«&tre Libre had no real contribution to make to drama.

They had a

levity and coarseness totally out of keeping with the seriousness of the subjects involved.

But, because they

were so popular with the people, the conventional theatres began to make compromises.

They changed some of their ideas

47 A. Ferdinand Herold, "Antoine and the Little Theatre", International Monthly, 3:514, May, 1901.

72

on what drama should consist of and began to accept some of the authors who were, in a way, serving their apprentice­ ship In the The&tre Libre. Antoine considered the actual plays produced at the Theatre Libre the most important contribution that it made* However, they were, perhaps, of the least importance.

The

Thb&tre Libre*s real claim to distinction lay in the ideas of production Ant.oine gave to the theatre, and it is these innovations that the next chapter will discuss.

CHAPTER V THEORIES OP PRODUCTION INNOVATED AND PRACTICED

m THE THEATRE LIBRE AXthough styles of drama had changed daring the nineteenth century in prance, little had been done in the way of improving production techniques to permit new plays to be presented properly.

\makeup had also grown too old fashioned to be properly adapted to the new realistic plays.

These dis­

crepancies between the drama and production methods used were all apparent to Antoine and his followers, and they attempted in their philosophy of the theatre and in their j productions to do away with them. What they thought and accomplished will be the concern of this chapter*

I. THEATRE COESTRUCTIO! .Theatres occupied

by the Theatre Libre. The first

home of the Theatre Libre was at 37, passage L*Elysse-desBeaux Arts, place plgalle In jgontmarte* The auditorIn® In which the- first program

mm presented was owned by pere

Sraus, an elderly retired aray offleer* who had built It with his o m hands*

It was a small playhouse, consisting

of a wooden hall and stage and seating less than three hundred people*, gales Lemaltre described it very pic­ turesquely •risen he attended the first performance* ....last Tuesday, at about half past eight in the evening, ghostly figures must have been seen slipping along between the street-booths of Montmarte, carefully picking their way among the puddles of water in the place around Place plgalle, scrutinizing the signs at the street comers* wo passage— no theatre!.**** Finally w© have recourse to a wine shop, and then we enter a steep, tortuous, ill-lighted alleyway. A row of cabs Is going up slowly in the same direction* We follow them, on each side are dim hovels and dirty walls j quite at the end is a dim stairway* wo had the air of a good Magi in mackintoshes seeking out some lowly but glorious manger* Can it be that in this manger the decrepit and dotard Drama Is destined to be reborn? •*• The room is very small....and resembles a concert hall in the chief residence of a district, W© can touch the actors on the other side of the foot lights, and stretch our legs on the prompter*® box* The stags is so narrow that only the most elementary .settings can be used, and it Is so close to the audience that scenic Illusions is impossible.1

I t¥lfoumal des Debate, (Paris) October 00, 188?.

75 To this description, It might be added that the audience sat up straight on hard benches# Pare Krausa, however, fearful lest the heavy applause (there was usually stamping of feet) should weaken his floor withdrew his permission to use the building*

The Theatre

Libre, accordingly, moved to the ThiStre Montparnasse, 51 rue de la Gai to. This was an auditorium slightly more comfortable than the first theatre occupied by Antoine*s actors. Soon, however, Antoine began to fear that the Parisiennes who had braved the journey to the unfashionable district of Montparnasse during the seasons of 1887 and 1888 might not be willing to face the same discomfort for another season.

Therefore, the Theatre Libre moved once

more, this time to the ThbStre dos Kenus-plalalr in the Boulevard de Strasbourg*

This theatre remained the homo

of the Theatre Libre till the latter*a termination* George Moore^ gave an interesting description of this theatre, in which he stated that the audience was unable to hear much of the drama because of the noise created in the cloak room by late comers*

Nonetheless,

he enjoyed the production of Ibsen*a Ghosts immensely, 2 George Moore, Impressions and opinions (New York; Charles Scribner* s Sons7TB9I17^riE2=T55:--

76 despite the Inconveniences caused by this and the close quarters of the theatre. The theatre in which Antoine did most of his work was a small, crude affair with poor facilities for comfort or work*

Antoine was aware of its shortcomings and the

shortcomings prevalent in the conventional theatres, and had several ideas how these could be corrected. As far as the physical conditions of stags and audi­ torium were concerned, Antoine*s concrete contributions were slight* His plans for a model theatre, nevertheless, were of definite value, and only the lack of money kept him from realizing them*. His. Ideas on what a theatre should consist of were expressed in the following manner* An attempt to remedy existing conditions will not be successful unless a house is built which will benefit the poorly placed spectator,*..* We must not only give him a place where he can sit without breaking his knee­ caps— we must put the spectacle that he has come to see in front of him, and not to his right or left* If we keep the bal conies in their present form, that Is to say, if we place the auditor above the picture, even if he Is facing It, he can only see the floor of the stage, and in some cases only the top of the head and foreshortened figure of the actor* We are inclined then to suppress balconies, all side seats, boxes and baignoires. This is the principle of the theatre In Bayreuth* *.. a single inclined plane with boxes in the roar. This theatre is to seat eight, hundred to one thousand people* There must be foyers on each side of the auditorium, with wide entrances to them. Upstairs there will bo well ventilated smoking rooms, reading rooms, and a cafe, where one can read, smoke, telegraph and tele­ phone. A separate room will ba maintained for the

77

press from which the critic may telephone his "story”. The present cloak room will be abolished* Each seat will be provided with & contrivance for wraps*..*** An automatic device will close all the doors of the auditorium as soon as the curtain goes up, so that the spectators and the actors will not be disturbed by late comers* The building will be fireproof.... well ventilated and will permit the actors to rehearse in the sunshine and fresh air and not in the vitiated, dark atmosphere of the normal theatre.3 Antoine derived his ideas for his model theatre from many sources.

Beeque had previously listed several

of the points in a critical attack on the conventional theatres. 2ola had expressed himself on the subject from time to time.

In 1876, Richard Wagner had opened his

Festival playhouse at Bayreuth, and news of its physical characteristics had reached Antoine.

Finally, August

Strindberg had been in parts at the time of Antoine*a first venture, and had voiced many revolutionary ideas.4 However, despite the fact that most of the archi­ tectural ideas had been expressed previously to Antoine*s writings on the subject, it must be admitted that he did put them all together and contributed certain ideas of his own. II.

ACTORS AND ACTING OF THE THEATRE LIBRE

3 Samuel waxman, Antoine and the ThMtre Libre (Cambridge: Harvard university Press-, 1SSB J, pp. ISS-126. 4 Glenn Hughes, The Story of the Theatre (Hew York: Samuel French company, lySSJ, p. 2SS.

78 The group of actors and actresses who worked with A»toin© was, with very few exceptions, made up of amateurs# in the play power of Darkness, for example, one of the plays in which the acting was praised enthusiastically, the cast included two clerks, an architect, a chemist, a traveling salesman, a wine merchant, a manufacturer, a dress maker, a bookbinder and a post office employee#

in the entire

troupe, there were really only two professional actors, Mevisto and Henri Mayer* These actors and actresses in the beginning years of the Theatre Libre rehearsed in the evenings after working all day.

Later, however, a large

number of them turned professional. Some of the outstanding actresses of Antoine»s company were;

Mademoiselle Barny, who was the best por­

trayer of character roles in the TheStre Libre; Louise Prance, who had a great talent for depicting realistic characters; Mile. Lucie Colas, who gained fame as a comedi­ enne and loft the The&tre Libre to go to act with Sarah Bernhardt and Coquelin; and the Miles. Henriot, Meurls, and Nau. The important actors of the Theatre Libre included; Mevisto, vti© was one of the most powerful personalities that ever trod the boards, and who later played at the forte-St. Matin; Henri Mayer, who came from the vaudeville

99 where he had not been given any roles of importance; Flrmln Gemior, George Grand* Jean Louis Janvier and Alexandre Arquilliere. The most significant of all the actors of the Th&atre Libre group was Antoine himself*

Although the important

critics questioned the techniques he employed, with the exception of Sarcey, they were unanimous in their praise of his acting*

A. F. Herold wrote the following after

seeing Antoine perform many times. As an actor, Antoine is remarkable• E© requires a great deal of his collaborators but does not spare himself. There is no role which displeases him; among great actors there is no part which takes rank over another, and it is thus with M. Antoine* We have seen him impersonate by turns young men and aged ones; there is not a social class whose customs he has not studied and at every turn his acting is truth and exactness itself.6 In Antoine's6 plans for a model theatre, he included provisions for the actors of the company. have thirty-five actors and actresses.

He intended to

They would receive

an annual salary and share in the profits.

They would

play every type of a part and the chief roles would be assigned to different actors during the run of a single play.

There would be no advertising of certain names on

6 A. Ferdinand Herold, "Antoine and the Free Theatre", international Monthly, 3;524, May, 1901. 6 Waxraan, op. cit», pp. 134-135i

80 the public bills.

The bills would only tell the name of

the play, the time of its performance and its author* perhaps Antoine’s greatest contributions to the theatre were his ideas on acting,

one must remember in

studying them, that they came at a time when actors were addressing themselves directly to their audiences, when bombast and oratory were flooding the theatre, and when acting was still being carried on in the grandest of the grand style*

It is no wonder that the theories of Antoine

were called radical and revolutionary by the conventional theatre managers* Katuralness is the keynote of acting according to Antoine* The actor should make himself the keyboard on which the author may play at will*

It was sufficient for

the actor to have a purely physical and technical train­ ing, to make his body, face and voice more supple in order to interpret in the best way possible the characters which *

they were supposed to be* According to Antoine, actors ’’were In reality manikins, marionettes, more or less per­ fected in proportion to their talents, whom the author dresses and moves around at will”.? Antoine expressed his ideas on what he expected of ~ V Adolph© Thallasso, Le Thl&tre libre {Paris j Mercure de Prance, 1909), p.lVS. "

81

the actors In the The&tre Libre in the following manner; The spectator will enjoy in an intimate play the simple and appropriate gestures of a modern man, living our everyday life* Then, too, the actor must modify his movements; he will not constantly come out of the picture to pose before his audience, he will move about among the furniture and accessories, and his acting will be amplified by a thousand and one nuances and by a thousand and one details which have become indis­ pensable to the logical moulding of character, purely mechanical movements, vocal effects, irrational and superfluous gestures will bo banished, Dramatic action will b© simplified by a return to reality and natural gestures. The old stagy effect attitudes will be replaced by effects produced only by the voice. Peelings will be expressed by familiar and real acces­ sories j a pencil turned around, a cup overturned, will be as significant as the grandiloquent exaggerations of the romantic drama,8 Antoine felt that leading men should be able to depict dif ferent characters and not specialize in particu­ lar roles.

He also thought that the old-fashioned way

of playing a part which had been handed down from genera­ tion to generation was incongruous with the verities of the present, Jean jullien, too, expressed the new theory of acting; ....today the actor is not made to get Inside a role, it is the role which has to adapt itself to the actor, to his us©, his manner and his faults..... The actor makes his profession of one role— a comedian, a lover, a financier: he has his typo stamped on his brain.., it will be necessary, therefore, to search elsewhere, among the young, among the intelligent, 8"Waxraan, op. clt., pp.129-130.

82

among the independent and the forlorn, among the fanatics of the theatre, the actors who love their art sufficiently; in order to have their personality a complete abstraction while acting naturally,,*., . For the theatrical type we wish to substitute the t a n type,® Antoine tried to follow his own ideas on 'acting

-

as much as possible when directing a play or acting him­ self,

He, therefore, brought much criticism down on his

head from the more conservative men of the theatre. The theatrical practices for which the fhSitre Libre became famous were;

the turning of one’s bach to the

audience; the speaking of lines in a voice approximating as closely as possible that used in life; the ignoring of the audience fey the actors; the complete immersion of the actor in his part. According to many of the critics, Antoine was the first actor to turn his hack to the audience* Sarcey

This caused

no end of annoyance. Antoine thought that it was

more natural to act some of the time with his back turned towards the audience, but.Sarcey questioned him, nWhy is it store natural to show the back than the face?n2*° Another violent objection which Sarcey raised to

§ j'eah j'ullien, Le Thfeatre Vlvant (Paris; que charpentier, 1892) ,'rpp. 18-13. ‘

BibllotfaiS-

10 prancisque Sarcey, Quarante ana de ThhStre, Vol. 8, (Paris;

Bibliothequ© des araalea pdlitiques et Litter-

alre, 1802), p. 302.

83 the acting of Antoine and hie troupe was their failure to apeak loudly enough,

sarcey-^ said that although the

actors of the Theatre Libre attempted to speak on the stage as nearly as possible as they did in real life, this was not feasible,

one does not speak in the theatre as one

does in real life* Antoine was well aware of the differences between stage language and ordinary speech.

He felt, however,

that stag© language should be as nearly like everyday speech as possible, with the exception of its being louder. This alone, he thought, would bring about the naturalness that was so necessary in acting. Sarcey, however, was not pleased with Antoine’s explanation.

He pointed out in the first act of The Fossils

that the doctors have just had a consultation on Robert’s illness.

They have ordered that he be sent to a different

climate, but they have no hope of prolonging his life more than a few months. Naturally, in life, doctors under such circumstances would talk softly.

Sarcey, nevertheless,

protested against the way the Theatre Libre handled the scene.

He wrote:

The characters in this scone talk very low and very fast, it would have had no greater effect if they had I T T O T T , pp. 389-390

84 said, as in other plays of this theatres "Is Latisane warm? Have you enough sugar? if he does not wish to drink it, insist*,.. And again to Antoine’s insistence that this was more natural, Sarcey asks, "why is It more natural to eat the syllables than articulate them? "3.3 Sarcey continued throughout the lifetime of the Theatre Libre to criticize their acting*

Bit despite his

harsh and sometimes thoroughly justifiable criticism, the acting at the fh^ttre Libre was praised by many of the other well-known critics*

Antoine was creating a type of

acting In which the characters of the play, and not the personalities of the actors, dominated* pilon^4 lauded Antoine’s ability to capture the dominant characteristic of the person he portrayed*

He

felt that this ability to depict in every word and gesture a type of human being was one of the greatest skills an actor could have* Although Sarcey sometimes complained very loudly and at length about the acting at the Th^Stre Libre, there were times when be praised it with as much vigour as he T2 ibid*', p. 391. 13 Ibid*, p* 302. 14 A. Filon, Be Dumas k Rostand (London* and Hall, 1898), pp*“g7-SF:---------

chapman

as attacked It.

In his review of ”Le Compte Witold”* he

said, "Antoine acted it with great honesty and spirit; lime. Begin© Martial, who played with him, is not without talent.” nevertheless, Sarcey hastened to add, ”but, for the love of Sod, aren’t they able to talk louder at the Theatre Libre?”-**® Sarcey also commended very highly the acting in Soour phllomene. He wrote, in one of the few times he ever applauded the acting of Antoine, that; The play was very well acted by M. Antoine, who Is very natural and who gets big effects with his voice which is sometimes cutting and sometimes veiled. Soeur Philomene was eharmigg with a subtle grace and pene­ trating smoothness.*® Noel and stoulllg were great admirers of Antoine’s, and they wrote after seeing him in pore Goriot: ”but what a marvellous actor is Antoine.

So simple, and so beautiful

in his simplicity.,,..”^ The play Esther Brandos, on© of the early plays of the Theatre Libre, contained one of Antoine’s most famous parts, that of Morel, a dying man whose presence touches each scene with ghastliness.

Filon wrote of the performance:

Sarcoy, op. cit., p. 281* 16 Ibid., p. 249. 17 E. Noel and E. stoulllg, Lea annales du Theatre et de la Musi quo (Paris; charpenti^^¥^le7,*lB8577*T^~^,0.

86

•*.«+those who saw Antoine as Morel, can never recall it without a shudder* Prom the very first scene we knew the man could notlive, that his malady was a sort of petrifaction of the heart, and that the fatal termination, which was inevitable, might be brought on prematurely by any violent emotion* It was impossible, looking at Antoine, to forget for a single moment that the heart was turning to stone, or to ©scape from the amazing fear, lest the deadly motion which constantly threatened, would descend like the blade of the guillotine*18 Melchior, in M s review of the power of Darkness, was very enthusiastic about the acting of the cast.

’"They

acted with intelligence because they acted little? >19 he said* La Rienne Fiamraette cam© in for much discussion because of the audience*s amusement at the Provencal accent of the young man playing the hero.

Even Koel and stoulllg,

who consistently praised the acting of the Tbb&tre Libre, said he was very bad, and said also that Antoine was un~ suited to his role and should not have played it* The cast of ghosts was the strongest the Theatre Libre could muster, and Antoine felt the acting was very good,

sarcey thought otherwise.

George Moor©, who was in

i^PlIoh, op* cit., p. 88. 19 E. Melohlor,”la puissance des Tenebres”, Revue des Deux Mondea, 86j435, March, 1888, 20 Kbel and Stoulllg, o£. cit*, pp. 528-329*

87

the audience# wrote later of Antoine*a Oswald* /

Antoine was wonderful*** The nervous Irritation of the sick taan was faultlessly rendered* When he tells his mother of the warnings of the French doctor**** Antoine# identifying himself with the simple truth sought by Ibsen# by voice and gesture, casts upon the scene so terrible a light, so strong an air of truth, that the dram seemed to pass,not before our ©yes, but ' deep within our hearts.^* . Antoine himelf felt a completely new sensation while acting in Ghosts* 'He became unaware of the audience after the second sot, and after the performance had diffi­ culty In pulling himself together* in The wild puck* the acting of sCLle* Meuris * an ingenue who played Hodwig, met with much acclaim*

Most

of the critics thought she was simply exquisite and destined for a fine career* During the presentation of Banville*s The Kiss, the author said to Zola, "They act like angels; where the devil did they learn to speak verse?"

Zola replied, "I believe

these are the actors we have needed for a long time."22 The premiere of Los possllea was sensational, although even Antoine was aware that the acting was mediocre* Sarcey23 wrote a terrific condemnation of the acting in this £1 Moore, . cit., pp. 391-392. 46 Ibid., p. 387.

Of the power of Darkness, Melchior in M s review said:

’’Here we see, for the first time, on the French

stage, a setting and costumes borrowed from the daily habits cdf Russian life without the enlivements of our comic opera,*.v**^ lighting in the fhe&tre Libre, Something already has been said of the lighting in the TheStre Libre in the treatment of mise-en-scene.

It may be gathered from Noel

and stoullig*s criticism of Le Mort du due d*EngMen, commenting on the fact that the theatre was in darkness during the performance, that this was an innovation. Antoine desired it in order to leave nothing but the stage fully lit.

This novel method met with definite reactions.

Members of the audience, feeling more secure in the dark, let out frightening cries, hissed and imitated the noise of kissing.

It is possible that Antoine took over the

ideas of the darkened theatre from the Keiningen, but it was nevertheless one of the first times it was ever prac­ ticed in France* Jullien continually expressed the necessity for no light in the room during a performance. ,H© wrote* It is necessary that the public lose for an Instant the feeling of its presence in a theatre. For that, ~

' dT Melchior, ogu cit., p. 434.

©a I believe It to be necessary, whan the curtain rises, to have darkness In the room. The scene will stand out with greater force, the spectator will remain attentive, will not dare to speak any longer, and will become almost Intelligent*^© Another innovation introduced into the French theatre by Antoine was the abolition of footlights and the bringing of light from above* Many of the naturalists had advocated it, but it remained for Antoine to put it to use.

Julilon.®

/

had advocated lighting from above, because in-life, light naturally came from above.

Strindberg urged its use be­

cause he felt that footlights destroyed facial play and the use of the eyes in expression.

He wrote:

Would it not be possible by means of strong side­ lights (obtained by the employment of reflectors, for instance) to add to the resources already possessed by the actor? Could not his mimicry bo still further strengthened by the use of the greatest asset possessed by the face: the play of the eyes.50 In some cases, Antoine suppressed both footlights and lights from above and obtained his light from candles and lanterns used on the stage. In the plays ja Hort du duo d«Bnghien, La patrle en Danger, The Weavers, and Hannelle Matterne, especially, the aforementioned Innovations in lighting were employed* 18 julllen, o£. cit., p* 10. 49 Loc. clt, 50 Strindberg, op. cit*, pp. 53-54.

Costuming in the Theatre Libre, when Antoine saw the Meinlngen troupe, he objected to their costuming when It was not based on historical fact.

He thought that their

costumes were In bad taste and Improperly used when the Moiningens relied on their imagination. In the matter of costuming, Antoine demanded again realitj.

Costumes, according to him, should be appropriate

to the character portrayed— not to the personality of the actor or actress.

They should be as exact as they are in

real life. Zola,5*- before Antoine,- had also stressed the im­ portance of exactitude in costuming and described in detail kinds of costumes for various characters. In The power of Darkness, Antoine went so far as to make exact copies of Russian costumes, and many of the critics commented on their originality and closeness to Russian life. In La Rienne plammette, Antoine, in his attempt at realistic costurning, was aeverly censured by the press. H© wrote: Above all my costume was criticized....its exactness disconcerted the public accustomed to the opera costumes used In historical plays. They were astonished, above all, at seeing me enter with a large sword in ay ' SI Zola, op. cit., pp. 123-124.

100

hand carried like a cane, an absolutely exact detail copied from a number of engravings and portraits of the period.52 Since the greater part of the plays presented at the Theatre Libre were about contemporary life, the regular clothes of the period were seen mostly upon the stage. Costuming was not emphasised#

The sol© requisite was that

it be in keeping with the character. Makeup in the Theatre Libre. was again the requirement.

In makeup, reality

The actors and the actresses

were to look life-like. Of make-up, Antoine said very little, but Strind­ berg, who expressed so many of the naturalistic theories of production, said: In wishing to speak of facial makeup, I have no hope that the ladles will listen to me, as they would rather look beautiful than life-like. But the actor might consider whether it be to his advantage to paint his face so that it shows some abstract type which covers it like a mask* Suppose that a man puts a markedly choleric line between his eyes, and imagine further that some remark demands a smile of this face fixed in a state of continual wrath* F/hat horrible grimace will be the result! **..« in psychological dramas, where the subtlest movements of the soul are to be reflected on the face rather than by the ges­ tures and voice, it would be probably well to experi­ ment*......with unpainted faces, or at least with the

B2 Antoine, op. cit., 7;50, July, 1921.

101

minimum of makeup.S3 Undoubtedly, Antoine was in agreement with these ideas In his realistic plays.

In his fantasies and

pageants, however, he probably employed a less realistic make-up* IV. BECLIHE OF THE

TRBtTRE LIBRE

The Thettre Libre In the beginning gave one per­ formance a month and worked for one month In preparing for it.

However, more and more people desired to see the

plays, and within three years after the opening of the theatre, It was giving three performances of each program. The subscription had trebled, but still the venture was losing money, and Antoine was hard pressed to put on any new performances * in the beginning, also, the audience consisted of Intellectual and artistic people, seriously concerned with dramatic innovations*

Later, however, as the Th&$tre

Libre ceased to be a sort of dramatic laboratory, the audience became less and less serious.

The greater part

of the Intelligensia dropped out and the pseudo-intelligenaia took its place.

The plays with scandalous themes,

53 strlndberg, op. cit., p. 111. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

102

which had

been regarded by the first audiences as experi­

mental, had come to be considered sensational by later audiences*

The stage of the new theatre came to be

regarded as a happy hunting ground where any taste, no matter how debased, could find matter to its liking# The audience* composed of dilletanti or amateurs* grasped at anything savoring of the sensational as refreshment for their jaded palates.

.


1923« 40Vpp • M M W H n tN M H iE *

n p iin n j i m y i n i

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Bapst, Constantine, Essai sur L^latoir® du Theatre* Paris: Bach© tte'"et' ci e T IHS‘5*." CSS ppBissell, Clifford, Lea Conventions du Theatre bourgeois contemporaln entrance "l§S?~ISfl7 Paris': Lea Presses Un1versitaire'ITe Prance,”'193’ dT"'"189 pp. Borgerhoff, Joseph, editor, nineteenth century 'French plays . Hew york: The Century”Company, 153H 79TO pp. Brisson, A«, portrait Intimes, 1897. SOSTpfu---------

Paris:

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parls: perrin et cie,

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