The Théâtre Libre (French for "Free Theatre") was a theatre company that operated from 1887 to 1896 in Paris , France .
31-474: Théâtre Libre was founded on 30 March 1887 by André Antoine . The primary goal of the theatre was to present new plays that were untried and unproduced by the commercial houses. Antoine was driven to open his own theatre company to create a dramatization of an Émile Zola novel, Thérèse Raquin , after the theater group for which he previously worked had refused. In order to ensure that the Théâtre Libre
62-605: A literary and artistic rather than a commercial value." The society was inspired by its continental forerunners, the Théâtre-Libre (Free Theatre) and Die Freie Bühne (Free Stage). The Society produced modern realist plays, mostly by continental European playwrights, on the London stage. The Society's performances, using professional actors, were given in theatres that were otherwise 'dark' — on Sundays, when no normal performances were scheduled. Because membership
93-419: A normal part of rehearsals with actors. Antoine believed each play had its unique mood or atmosphere and he hardly ever reused sets and settings. He also literally believed in the notion of removing the fourth wall. With some plays he would rehearse in the space with four walls around the action, natural set and actors and then decide which fourth wall to remove and thus deciding which side or perspective to place
124-419: A risk to stage. Playbills and posters were created by leading artists of the day with an un-glamorized, gritty realism that reflected the spirit of the theatre and its repertoire. Among the artists that produced the most memorable works for its plays were Henri-Gabriel Ibels , Édouard Vuillard , Paul Signac , George Auriol , Adolphe Willette , and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec . There are three chapters of
155-439: A small but inquisitive and influential body of enthusiasts behind them, we should be far less advanced today than we are. The real history of the drama for the last ten years is not the history of the prosperous enterprises of Mr Hare, Mr Irving , and the established West-End theatres, but of the forlorn hopes led by Mr Vernon, Mr Charrington, Mr Grein, Messrs Henly and Stevenson, Miss Achurch, Miss Robins and Miss Lea, Miss Farr and
186-615: A theatre and film critic beginning in 1919. For twenty years, his commentary was published by L'Information , and more sporadically in Le Journal, Comœdia , and Le Monde illustré . Two volumes of memoirs were published in 1928, and appeared in the journal Théâtre from 1932 to 1933. (Works as film director) Independent Theatre Society The Independent Theatre Society was a by-subscription-only organisation in London from 1891 to 1897, founded by Dutch drama critic Jacob Grein to give "special performances of plays which have
217-550: Is made to create a perfect illusion of reality. Naturalism is often said to be driven by Darwinism and its view of humans as behavioral creatures shaped by heredity and environment. Antoine believed that our environment determines our character and he would often start rehearsals by creating the set, settings or environment which would then allow his actors to explore their characters and their behaviors with greater authenticity. Often he would only hire untrained actors (a practice still common with young film makers) since he believed that
248-650: The Opera Comique . The Society premièred Ibsen's The Wild Duck (in translation) in 1894. In 1895, Grein invited Aurélien Lugné-Poe to present a season of productions in French, of Ibsen's Rosmersholm , The Master Builder and Maurice Maeterlinck 's symbolist L'Intruse and Pelléas and Mélisande . Membership of the Society never exceeded 175, but it was influential, including George Meredith , Arthur Wing Pinero , Thomas Hardy , Henry James , and
279-631: The cinema . Meanwhile, he stayed a short period in Istanbul in order to found The Istanbul City Theater. Once World War I started he returned to Paris. Between 1915 and 1922, he directed several films under auspices of the Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres ("Film Society of Authors and Men of Letters") of Pierre Decourcelle , adapting literary or dramatic works, such as La Terre ("Earth"), Les Frères corses ("The Corsican Brothers") and Quatre-vingt-treize ("Ninety-three"). He applied
310-515: The Irish novelist George Moore amongst the members. In 1895, Shaw wrote (of the Society) "The Independent Theatre is an excellent institution, simply because it is independent. The disparagers ask what it is independent of.... It is, of course, independent of commercial success.... If Mr Grein had not taken the dramatic critics of London and put them in a row before Ghosts and The Wild Duck , with
341-415: The Society there was of Henrik Ibsen 's Ghosts , on 13 March 1891 — in a translation by William Archer . This was followed by Émile Zola 's Thérèse Raquin on 9 October 1891. Both plays were greeted with a storm of protest. Ghosts was described thus: "an orderly audience, including many ladies... listened attentively to the dramatic exposition of a subject which is not usually discussed outside
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#1732775443753372-548: The Théâtre Libre can be seen in the Moscow Art Theatre which was founded in 1898 by Constantine Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchecko and still operates today. Andr%C3%A9 Antoine (actor) André Antoine (31 January 1858 – 23 October 1943) was a French actor , theatre manager , film director , author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. André Antoine
403-524: The Théâtre Libre were now commercially acceptable and sought after. Due to the amount of debt acquired both on behalf of the theatre and personally, Antoine turned the Théâtre Libre over to Larochelle, a son of an older director/actor who had been eager to join management, for the final two years of the theatre's operation. The last performance at Théâtre Libre was on April 27, 1896. The theatre presented more than 111 plays by more than 50 playwrights during its existence. Each production produced at Théâtre Libre
434-446: The Théâtre Libre's life. This first is its opening with the first two programs in the spring of 1887 and the full season that followed. Antoine quit his job at the gas company to pursue establishing the Théâtre Libre full-time. The second is from October 1888 to June 1893. During this time, the Théâtre Libre established itself as a prominent theatre company whose subscriptions were robust, produced many plays to general critical acclaim, and
465-440: The audience on. Plays performed at the Théâtre Libre were often "thin on plot, dense in social and psychological implication" (Chothia, Andre Antoine). Productions rejected formal acting styles that were prevalent at the time and they built the " fourth wall ". Despite being proponents of naturalism, they still adhered to some ideas of "playing for the audience" – there is no evidence that Antoine ever set any chairs facing away from
496-537: The audience, and the actors still had to make sure that their voices could be heard to the back of the house—so, in a way, their "naturalism" was really just a higher level of illusion than theatre had been up to that point. In 1894, Antoine gave up the direction of his own theatre, and became connected with the Gymnase, and two years later, with the Odéon theatres. Heavily indebted, he left the Odéon in 1914 and turned to
527-716: The box office or not. It was also a stage for new writing whose subject matter or form had been rejected in other theatres. Over a seven-year period, until 1894, the Théâtre Libre staged some 111 plays. His work had enormous influence on the French stage, as well as on similar companies elsewhere in Europe, such as the Independent Theatre Society in London and the Freie Bühne in Germany. Antoine opposed
558-450: The father of Naturalistic Staging. He sought to make every play as real as possible, such as when real beef carcasses were used on stage. Many sets were erected with four standing walls for rehearsals, then Antoine would decide which wall to remove for the audience to see when plays began their run. He also replaced footlights with more naturalistic lighting. Antoine believed each play should have its own unique environment. The Théâtre Libre
589-468: The principles of naturalism to film, giving importance to the scenery, natural elements that actually determine the behavior of the protagonists, and by using non-professional actors who were not tied up in the old forms of theater. For Jean Tulard, his literary reputation and is involved in "giving the film its sense of nobility". Influencing film makers like Mercanton, Capellans Hervil and he is "the true father of neorealism". Antoine concluded his career as
620-516: The professional actors of his time could not realistically portray real people. Antoine's Theatre Libre dedicated itself more specifically to the Quart d'heure or short, simple, free, episodic, one act play performances. he concentrated on script development but advocated naturalistic, behavioral acting dependent on the interaction of actors and helping actors to find their psychological motivations. Discussions on matters of interpretation and setting were
651-534: The rest of the Impossibilities." He went on to urge that the London managers "might provide one marketable play each year", so that the Society could continue as a laboratory for experimental theatre. As a result of its small subscription base and its high ambitions, the Society was not financially successful and was wound up in 1897, having presented 22 productions and premières of an additional 26 one-act programmes. The Incorporated Stage Society took over
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#1732775443753682-532: The theatre failed and closed its doors. The theater concerned itself with producing work that was considered too risky to stage by more well-known theaters, sometimes even works that had been banned in Europe, such as Henrik Ibsen 's Ghosts. The theater performed one foreign work per year and it staged only three performances of any production, either a foreign or domestic work. The Théâtre Libre combined Realism with Naturalism , and emphasized ensemble acting. André Antoine , its primary director, became known as
713-610: The traditional teachings of the Paris Conservatory , and focused on a more naturalistic style of acting and staging. In particular, Théâtre Libre productions were inspired by the Meiningen Ensemble of Germany. They performed works by Zola, Becque , Brieux , and plays by contemporary German, Scandinavian, and Russian naturalists. In 1894, Antoine was forced to relinquish the theater due to financial failure, but he went on to form Théâtre Antoine , which followed
744-482: The traditions established by Théâtre Libre until its demise 10 years later. The work of the Theatre Libre was said to embrace both Realism and Naturalism. In theatre, Realism is generally thought to be a 19th-century movement which uses dramatic and stylistic conventions to bring authenticity and 'real life' to performances and drama texts while Naturalism is commonly seen as an extension to this where an attempt
775-579: The walls of an hospital". Other critics called for the withdrawal of Kate Santley 's licence. The following year, Grein approached the (then) young theatre critic George Bernard Shaw for a play for the Society. Shaw's first play, Widowers' Houses , premièred for the Society at the Royalty Theatre on 9 December 1892. A Question of Memory by Michael Field premièred on 27 October 1893; and The Black Cat by Irish playwright, John Todhunter received its only performance, on 8 December 1893, at
806-683: Was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utility and worked in the Archer Theatre when he asked to produce a dramatization of a novel by Émile Zola . The amateur group refused it, so he decided to create his own theatre to realize his vision of the proper development of dramatic art. Antoine founded the Théâtre Libre in Paris in 1887. This was a théâtre d'essai , a workshop theatre, where plays were produced whether they would perform at
837-482: Was by subscription, the performances were not "public", and so the Society was allowed to perform plays that had not received a licence from the Lord Chamberlain's Office ; and in this way they were able to avoid the censorship of the London stage. During 1891, the Royalty Theatre fell vacant and offered the Society an opportunity to stage plays with a professional cast and crew. The first performance for
868-477: Was exempt from censorship and could produce plays that other theaters would not, the theatre was supported solely by subscribers. This allowed the Théâtre Libre to collect no money at the door meaning it was not legally considered a theatre. Being a "free" theatre, in the case of Théâtre Libre, meant being a theatre that presented naturalism and was dedicated to producing plays in any and all genres that had not been produced before and often were considered too much of
899-399: Was only given three performances: one dress rehearsal, one opening night performance for invited guests, and one performance for subscribers. However, despite its achievements, the theater had major financial problems. The deep debt coupled with the idea that the Théâtre Libre was no longer needed, as it had proved that a new form of theatre could be acceptable and commercial was being produced,
930-578: Was sought out to produce new work. It was during these years that the Théâtre Libre saw some of its work transferring to prominent commercial theatres in Paris such as the Odéon and the Comédie-Française . The theatre's final chapter is marked from November 1893 to its close in 1896. During this time it was evident that the experimental days of the theatre had passed as the style and works produced by
961-657: Was the first of its kind and inspired the opening many theatres, including the Freie Bühne , (Free Stage), in Berlin that opened in 1889 as well as the Independent Theatre Society in London that opened in 1891. Out of these two theatres grew Freie Volksbühne, (Free People's Stage), and the Stage Society in 1899 and the Abbey Theatre at Dublin in 1901. The influence in staging in realism and naturalism can of