Théâtre de l’Hôtel de Bourgogne

Théâtre de l’Hôtel de Bourgogne, the first permanent theatre in Paris, built in 1548 on the ruins of the palace of the dukes of Burgundy. The theatre was built by the Confrérie de la Passion (“Confraternity of the Passion”), a group of artisans and tradesmen who held a monopoly on the presentation of plays in the city. The long and narrow theatre had a small playing area that was further restricted by the use of multiple settings on the stage. Most of the audience stood in the pit, and galleries lined the side and back walls. The theatre’s total capacity was 1,600. The same year their theatre was finished, the Confrérie was forbidden to perform religious plays and was reduced to acting farces and plays of medieval romance, without much success. Toward the end of the 16th century, it gave up acting and rented the theatre to traveling players, including Italian and English companies. The first really permanent company in Paris, known as Les Comédiens du Roi (“the King’s Players”), established itself in the theatre about 1610. The Comédiens enjoyed considerable success and gradually assumed full-time use of the theatre. They were without an important rival until 1634, when a second theatre, the Théâtre du Marais, was built for the Prince of Orange’s Players. The Comédiens du Roi produced many of the great tragedies of Corneille and Racine in the Hôtel de Bourgogne, working there until 1673, when the company was merged with other Parisian players that later formed the Comédie-Française (in 1680). The new company left for new quarters, and the Hôtel de Bourgogne was used until 1783 by actors of the Comédie-Italienne.