A place, a story

 

1876 - Designed for the Café-concert repertoire, the Bouffes du Nord Theatre, commissioned by M. Chéret to the architect Louis-Marie Emile Leménil, was built on the foundations of barracks supposedly left unfinished. The hall comprised 530 seats divided into an orchestra, box seats, and a gallery.

 

1876 to 1885 - About fifteen unfortunate directors succeeded each other.  The theatre was situated  far from the centre in la Chapelle area; in the border of the fields, it had poor transport links, was badly lit and hence not attractive for the Parisian theatre-goers.  As for the local audience, they are not prepared to sit quietly at the show.  At times they got so involved in the events played out on stage, that the police had to throw them out of the hall.

 

1885 - Abel Ballet, a theatre director who mostly toiled on in the local theatres, re-opened the Bouffes du Nord.  He produced grand historical epics and melodramas in which Margot cried her heart out.  Shows began at 7 in the evening and often ended after midnight.  Like in Montparnasse, one brings along one’s own grub to be heated on the common stove, and enjoyed during the interval.  This year Yvette Guilbert made her debut in Alexandre Dumas’ The Queen Margot.

 

1893 - Abel Ballet hosted Lugné-Poë who staged Ibsen’s Rosmersholm and An Enemy of the People with the actors from the Théâtre de l’Œuvre, in the set designed and painted by Edouard Vuillard.

 

1896 - Abel Ballet resigned from the post of the director of Bouffes du Nord Theatre. Two actors succeeded him: Emmanuel CIot and G. Dublay.

 

1904 - At the instigation of its directors, the hall was entirely refurbished, repainted and electrically lit. As if to give it more nobility, the name of the theatre was changed to « Théâtre Molière » and authors like Henry Kistemaeckers, Georges Darien and Gaston Leroux were called on. 

 

 

August 1914 - The Théâtre Molière, like all others, shut down.

 

1917 - Owners of several variety theatres, Oscar Dufrenne and Henry Varna acquired the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and transformed it into a music-hall.

 

1923 - Oscar Dufrenne and Henry Varna retired.  Henry Darcet became director in his turn and registered the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in "The Consortium of Local Theatres".  Gathered in the same organisation, these local theatres (Gobelins, Grenelle, Ternes, Montrouge, Bouffes du Nord, etc.) « toured successful shows from mainstream Boulevard theatres. »

 

1929 to 1935 - Paul Le Danois and Charles Malincourt took over as directors after Henry Darcet was appointed at La Scala.  They pursed the policy of the Consortium as best they could.  After the death of Charles Malincourt and Paul le Danois, the Bouffes du Nord only presented occasional shows.  

 

May 1945 - As if to celebrate the Armistice, Jean Serge, a young and zealous theatre director, re-opened the theatre and named it "Théâtre des Carrefours".

 

September 1946 - Unable to meet the operating costs of the theatre, Jean Serge retired. René Marjolle, former singer at the Opéra-Comique aimed to give a lyrical scope to the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, but he also resigned after a difficult year.

 

December 1950 - Charles Béai, former director of the Théâtre de l'Humour, decided to take his chance.  Success at last, thanks to the rerun of These Ladies with Green Hats (Ces Dames aux chapeaux verts) after a novel by Germaine Acremant -with Alice Tissot and Armand Bernard-. The piece stayed on for more than three months. 

 

June 1952 - Too old, badly kept, the theatre was not up to security standards prescribed by the authorities and had to close down. 

 

September 1969 - Narcisse Zecchinel, an Italian building contractor, bought the theatre and saved it from demolition.

 

Excerpts from The Parisian Theatres by Geneviève Latour and Florence Claval, published by the Délégation à l'Action Artistique of the city of Paris.