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6 - Experiences of Popular Theatre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2021

David Charlton
David Charlton
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London (Emeritus)
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Summary

Chapter 6 brings together evidence of all kinds from the whole period to create a vivid picture of popular opera and its audience in the theatre. ‘Theatre Size and Ambience’ correlates detailed historical information to produce a systematic overview of many theatre buildings, together with interior details and size of musical ensembles. Ticket admission prices at the Opéra, Comédie-Italienne and the Fair theatres are compared and assessed. Descriptions by a number of eyewitnesses (French, Italian, English, Irish and German observers) combine to give an impression of activity in popular theatre seen from the audience’s point of view. In a survey of staging, the evidence is both visual and textual: engraved and painted illustrations are analysed and ‘corrected’ so that the proportions of stage sets can be understood. Then a synopsis of stage directions suggests the material range of experience in popular opera. A survey of lighting effects is discussed in relation to stage context, showing how some comedies combined lighting effects with music.

Keywords

eyewitnesstheatre locationtheatre dimensionsFoiresParisticket pricesstaginglightingaudiences
Type
Chapter
Information
Popular Opera in Eighteenth-Century France
Music and Entertainment before the Revolution
 , pp. 134 - 155
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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