A Venue rich in History

1974 : the Theatre was re-opened by Peter Brook

Extract from Peter Brook’s book «The Shifting Point» Seuil Editions.

As a result of our three years of travelling and experiences, we have learnt, the hard way, what consitutes a good space and what consitutes a bad one. One day, Micheline Rozan said to me : "There is a theatre behind the Gare du Nord station that everyone has forgotten about. I have heard that it is still there. Let’s go and see!». We jumped into the car but, once we arrived where the theatre was meant to be, there was nothing, just a café, a store and a façade with a lot of windows, typical for Parisian XIXth century buildings. We did notice, however, a sheet of cardboard along the wall which was sort of covering a hole. We pulled it away and a cleared a path through a dusty tunnel, and then, suddenly, we could stand up. What we found , though delapidated, burnt-out, and ruined by rain and hail, affected us.It has noble proportions and was filled with light. It took our breath away. This was the Bouffes du Nord.

We made two decisions. The first one was to leave the theatre exactly as it was and not to wipe out the traces etched in by a hundred of years’ living. The other decision was to revive the place as quickly as possible. We had been warned that it wouldn’t be possible. A Ministry official told us that it would take two years to get money and planning permission. Micheline refused to accept this and took up the challenge. Six months later we opened with «Timon of Athens».

We had kept the old wooden seats on the balcony but had them reconvered with new fabric. During the first performances some people were literally stuck to their seats and we had to reimburse a few very cross ladies who had left a piece of their skirt on the seat.

Fortunately there was a great deal of applause, but it literally brought the house down because large sections of plaster moulding broke off due to of the vibrations and fell down, narrowly missing the heads of our audience. Since then, the ceiling has been cleaned but the extrordinary acoustics remain.

Micheline and I decided upon a policy : the theatre should be simple, open and welcoming. There should be no numbered seats and a single ticket price, the this price should be a low as possible, half or a quarter of that of prices in the theatre district. Our aim was to make the theatre accessible to those living in suburbs way outside Paris, and to families so that all four or five of them would be able to go to the theatre. We also organised matinees on Saturdays - where we had the best and most enthusiastic audiences - with even lower prices. In this way, the elderly, who were nervous about going out at night, were able to come. We also made the decision to take the liberty of closing the theatre when we wanted, or to offer free productions at Christmas or Easter to neighborhood residents.

We wanted to offer workshops and shows for children, or to be able to go out and meet people using our improvisations, so that the Bouffes du Nord would not become a repertory theatre but would still remain a Centre.

Of course all of this comes to a lot more than the daily running costs of a theatre with standard prices and, despite the continued support of the Miche Guy, the new Minister for Culture, subsidies from the French government are still insufficient. I have been very lucky in having Micheline as my partner. Her intelligence and her original vision have enabled us, year after year, to survive on our shoestring.

1876 to 1974

A chapter taken from Geneviève Latour et Florence Claval’s book, «Les Théâtres de Paris» («Paris Theatres»).
Published by the Paris Artistic Action Delegation.

1876

The Bouffes du Nord theatre was built as a venue for the Caf’Conc popular song repertory by the architect Louis-Marie Emile Leménil, on the orders of M. Cheret. It was constructed on the existing foundations which were meant to be for an army barracks whose plans had been abandoned. The theatre consisted of 530 seats, arranged in stalls, a row of boxes and a gallery. The opening show was a review called "Ta-Da-Da" which was badly received. M. Chéret understood by this that he had been too ambitious as relinquished his position after a few months.

1876 à 1885

Around fifteen directors then ran the theatre, each as unlucky as the last. The theatre was not very centrally located in the La Chapelle district, bordering on fields, and was badly lit and not easily accessible, all of which put off Parisian theatre patrons. As for local audiences, they were not prepared to sit through a show decorously. Sometimes the police was forced to throw out the audience as they were partcipating with all their might on the events which were being depicted on stage.
In 1882 the anarchist Louise Michel attempted to attract the «Marilous» and «Gigolettes» groups by performing a revolutionary play called «Nadine» which fell flat and incited no reaction at all.
In 1885, the theatre closed after the new director Mme Olga Léaud took its money and ran, without paying the actors.
In Septembre 1885 Abel Ballet, a director who was all the rage mainly in theatres iin the district, re-opened the Bouffes du Nord. He put on large historical tableaux and melodramas in which Margot wept passionately. The show started at 7 in the evening and often ended after midnight. Just like in Montparnasse, people could bring their meal and heat it up on a communal stove, and then eat during the interval. In that year Yvette Guilbert made her début in Alexandre Dumas’ «La Reine Margot».

1890

The Château d'Eau theatre had just closed and the young Firmin Gémier found himself down on his luck. So he was taken on by the Bouffes du Nord. He felt frustrated, however, by the theatre’s shows which were making the audiences of La Chapelle and La Villette swoon.

1893

Abel Ballet - and this is to his credit - received Lugné-Poë who put on «Rosmersholm» with the actors of the L'reuvre theatre and Ibsen’s «An Enemy of the people» on stage sets designed and painted by Vuillard.
"Once the Bouffes du Nord had been rented, we had to rehearse. Edouard Vuillard, however, with the help of his good friends Pierre Bonnard, Ranson and Sérusier, agreed to paint on the cold ground in the scenery store, located on the Rue de la Chapelle, near the freight station offices for the northern railway. How did our good friends escape expiring from bronchitis? It has to be said that Vuillard and his companions, by working from 7 or 8am on old chassis that we found, were squandering their health and their youth in this adventure. The Bouffes du Nord scenery store was open to the elements and there was no heating."
Lugné-Poë. "Souvenirs"

December 1893

G. Hauptmann’s «Lonely Lives» was directed by Lugné-Poë.

February 1894

Ibsen’s «The Master Builder» was directed by LugnéPoë.

1896

Abel Ballet left Bouffes du Nord. He was succeeded by two actors Emmanuel CIot and G, Dublay.

1904

Under its directors’ orders, the theatre was entirely restored and repainted and electricity was put in. To give it a more prestigious image, it was renamed "Théâtre Molière" and authors such as Kistemaeckers, G. Spitzmiller, Georges Darien, A. Bernède et Gaston Leroux were called in, and an adaptation of the latter’s "Chéri-Bibi" was performed. The singer Aristide Bruant, performed his own play, "Fleur de Pavé" («Street Parisienne») and this was considered a great event.

Août 1914

The Molière Theatre, like all other theatres, closed.

1917

Oscar Dufrenne and Henry Varna, who already owned several variety venues, acquired the Bouffes du Nord and transformed it into a Music Hall. Every year they produced two reviews with evocative names, which were most often written by Henry Varnaet and were always very successful. "C'est couru"(«It’s all the rage») "C'est épatant". («It’s amazing») "Cline, va!"(«Go on Cline!»). "Le droit de couchage!"(«Bed is allowed!»). "La Revue très excitante"(«The Very Exciting Review») "La Revue folichonne"(«The Pleasing Review»), "Le Coucher de la marquise" («The Marquise Retires»). "La Vie d'une fille"(«A Girl’s Life») and so on.

1923

Oscar Dufrenne and Henry Varna resigned after making some serious. Henry Darcet took over and enrolled the Bouffes du Nord in the "District Theatre Consortium". The Gobelins, Grenelle, Ternes and Montrouge theatres were alos part of this association and together they "ran successful shows which were written on the streets". The principle roles went to lesser known actors, the ticket prices were moderate and they showed different plays every week. Unfortunately, some of the local theatres were disappearing, one after the other, absorbed by the new cinema industry.

1929

Paul Le Danois and Charles Malincourt replaced Henry Darcet who took over la Scala, They continue the Consortium policy as best they can.

Août 1932

Charles Malincourt, suffering from acute depression, committed suicide.

Octobre 1932

Paul le Danois renovated the theatre and modernized the stage and then invited the journalist Léon Moussinac, the founder of the international Art theatre, and the future director of the I.D.H.E.C. (the Paris Cinema School) to put on three shows. They were produced in a remarkable manner and performed by a troop of fifty actors.
13th October 1932, Hans Chlumberg’s «Miracle at Verdun».

Novembre 1932

5th November 1932, Vsevolod Ivanov’s «Armoured Train n° 14-69.
30th November 1932 Friedrich Wolff’s «Prussic Acid».
Although the reviews recognized the high quality of these shows, takings never managed to cover expenditure or rental costs. Léon Moussinac had to resign.

Décembre 1932

December 1932 Alexandre Bisson’s vaudeville play "Les Surprises du divorce",

1935

Paul le Danois died. Les Bouffes du Nord no longer offered one-off shows.

1943

The singer-director Damia organized music hall evenings where she played the central rôle.

Mai 1945

As if he was celebrating Armistice Day, Jean Serge, a young, enthiusiastic theatre director opened the theatre once more, calling it "Théâtre des Carrefours" («The Crossroads Theatre»).

25 mai 1945

Léonid Léonov’s «The Invasion» (1944 Stalin Prize) with Daniel Ivernel and Michel Piccoli.

30 octobre 1945

Simone de Beauvoir’s «Les Bouches inutiles» («Uselss mouths») with Michel Vitold.

27 janvier 1946

"Winterset" de Maxwell Anderson, adapted by Marcel Achard, with Daniel Gélin and, in a cameo rôle, Louis de Funès. And also Paul Mourousi’s "Le Roi sans amour"(«The King without Love»).

Septembre 1946

Unable to ensure that the theatre ran smoothly, Jean Serge resigned. René Marjolle, a former Comic Opera singer, wanted to bring lyrical singing to the Bouffes du Nord, but after a difficult year he, too, gave up.

Décembre 1950

Charles Béai, the former director of the humorous theatre, tried in turn. He succeeded thanks to a remake of «These ladies in green hats», based on the novel by Germaine Acremant, with Alice Tissot and Armand Bernard. The play ran for three months and hope took hold once more....

1951

"1900 was a great time", a music hall show.

Juin 1952

The theatre was too old and badly maintained to fulfil mandatory security standards required by the Police Commission. It had to close down.

1974

Peter Brook and Micheline Rozan, the founders of the International Centre for Theatre Research remembered the delapidated building that housed the Bouffes du Nord theatre. Thanks to financial help from the Festival d'Automne (the Autumn Festival), run by Michel Guy, they renovated the theatre in an intelligent way and extremely tastefully.

"An old theatre is often beautiful but productions have to take place within the confines of old-fashioned spaces. A new theatre may be dynamic yet remain cold and soulless. At the Bouffes du Nord you are struck by its noble proportions but at the same time this quality is spoilt somewhat by the basic aspect of the venue’s aesthetics. If we restored the theatre perfectly the architechture would lose some of its strength and that would become a disadvantage."
Peter Brook, 1974.

15 octobre 1974

The Bouffes du Nord theatre re-opened with "Timon of Athens", adapted by J.-C. Carrière. Directed by Peter Brook.