An overview of the theatre of France.
Historic overview
Secular French theatre
Discussions about the origins of non-religious theatre ("théâtre profane") -- both drama and farce—in the Middle Ages remain controversial, but the idea of a continuous popular tradition stemming from Latin comedy and tragedy to the 9th century seems unlikely.
Most historians place the origin of medieval drama in the church's liturgical dialogues and "tropes". At first simply dramatizations of the ritual, particularly in those rituals connected with Christmas and Easter (see Mystery play), plays were eventually transferred from the monastery church to the chapter house or refectory hall and finally to the open air, and the vernacular was substituted for Latin. In the 12th century one finds the earliest extant passages in French appearing as refrains inserted into liturgical dramas in Latin, such as a Saint Nicholas (patron saint of the student clercs) play and a Saint Stephen play.
Dramatic plays in French from the 12th and 13th centuries: Le Jeu d'Adam (1150–1160) - written in octosyllabic rhymed couplets with Latin stage directions (implying that it was written by Latin-speaking clerics for a lay public) Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas - Jean Bodel - written in octosyllabic rhymed couplets Le Miracle de Théophile - Rutebeuf (c.1265)
The origins of farce and comic theatre remain equally controversial; some −literary historians believe in a non-liturgical origin (among "jongleurs" or in pagan and folk festivals), others see the influence of liturgical drama (some of the dramas listed above include farcical sequences) and monastic readings of Plautus and Latin comic theatre.
Non-dramatic plays from the 12th and 13th centuries: Le Dit de l'herberie - Rutebeuf Courtois d'Arras (c.1228) Le Jeu de la feuillé (1275) - Adam de la Halle Le Jeu de Robin et Marion (a pastourelle) (1288) - Adam de la Halle Le Jeu du Pèlerin (1288) Le Garçon et l'aveugle (1266–1282) - earliest surviving French farce Aucassin et Nicolette (a chantefable) - a mixture of prose and lyrical passages
Select list of plays from the 14th and 15th centuries: La Farce de maître Trubert et d'Antrongnard - Eustache Deschamps Le Dit des quatre offices de l'ostel du roy - Eustache Deschamps Miracles de Notre Dame Bien Avisé et mal avisé (morality) (1439) La Farce de maître Pierre Pathelin (1464–1469) - this play had a great influence on Rabelais in the 16th century Le Franc archer de Bagnolet (1468–1473) Moralité (1486) - Henri Baude L'Homme pécheur (morality) (1494) La Farce du cuvier La Farce nouvelle du pâté et de la tarte
In the 15th century, the public representation of plays was organized and controlled by a number of professional and semi-professional guilds: Clercs de la Basoche (Paris) - Morality plays Enfants sans Souci (Paris) - Farces and Sotties Conards (Rouen) Confrérie de la Passion (Paris) - Mystery plays
Genres of theatre practiced in the Middle Ages in France: Farce - a realistic, humorous, and even coarse satire of human failings Sottie - generally a conversation among idiots ("sots"), full of puns and quidproquos Pastourelle - a play with a pastoral setting Chantefable - a mixed verse and prose form only found in "Aucassin et Nicolette" Mystery play - a depiction of the Christian mysteries or Saint's lives Morality play Miracle play Passion play Sermon Joyeux - a burlesque sermon