Hôtel de Bourgogne

Hôtel de Bourgogne (ōtĕl` də brgô`nyə), 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.

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Bourgogne, Hôtel de 

French theater. It was founded in Paris in 1548. In the beginning the owners of the building, members of the Confraternity of the Passion, presented mysteries, farces, morality plays, and soties; in 1578 they began renting the premises to French and Italian troupes. The troupe of Valleran-Leconte, who created the first permanent theater in Paris, began playing in the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1599. This troupe’s repertoire included plays by A. Hardy, and later by J. Rotrou, G. Scudéry, P. Du Ryer, and others. P. Bellerose was popular in roles of gallant lovers; the actors Gaultier-Garguille, Gros-Guillaume, and Turlupin developed a tradition of popular farce theater. In the 1640’s the Hôtel de Bourgogne became the chief theater of the classical school; J. Racine’s and P. Corneille’s tragedies were staged here, and the leading actors were Floridor, M. Champmeslé, and Z. Montfleury. In 1680 the Comédie Française was created through a merger of the Hôtel de Bourgogne troupe with the Molière troupe and the Théâtre du Marais, which had merged earlier. The Comédie Italienne presented plays in the Hôtel de Bourgogne until 1783. The Hôtel de Bourgogne was demolished in 1866.

REFERENCE

Istoriia zapadnoevropeiskogo teatra, vol. 1. General editor S. S. Mokul’skii. Moscow, 1956.