Naturalist theatre
Antoine’s goal in his naturalist productions was to ‘liberate the stage’. To his mind, the actors ought to ‘live’ the play rather than ‘act’ it, in order to convey reality as faithfully as possible.
The experience was heightened by the realistic sets. If a scene took place in a butcher’s shop, real carcasses would be hung from meat hooks, while dramas about peasant life had live chickens flapping around the stage.
Henri Gabriel Ibels, Theatre programme for Grand-papa by Claude Berton and Si c'était by Paul Lheureux (Théâtre Libre, 13 June 1895), 1895
Meeting of the arts
The Théâtre Libre became a hothouse for the modern artists and literary figures of the fin-de-siècle. Exhibitions were held there and artists like Henri Gabriel Ibels and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec designed theatre programmes, posters and sets.
When the performance was over, theatre-goers took the beautifully produced programmes home with them, turning them into collector’s items.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Theatre programme for L'argent by Emile Fabre (Théâtre Libre, 5 May 1895), 1895
Adolphe Willette, Theatre programme for Les bouchers by Fernand Icres, Chevalerie rustique by Paul Solanges, L'amante du Christ by Rodolphe Darzens and Marié by Georges de Porto-Riche (Théâtre Libre, 19 October 1888), 1888
Further reading
- Geneviève Aitken, Artistes et Théâtres d’Avant-Garde: Programmes de théatre illustrés. Paris 1890-1900, Paris 1991
- Gabriel P. Weisberg, Illusions of Reality: Naturalist Painting, Photography, Theatre and Cinema, 1875-1918, Amsterdam 2010
- Patricia Eckert Boyer, Artists and the Avant-Garde Theater in Paris 1887-1900, Washington 1998