The Theatre > History

The King's actors (Comédiens ordinaires du Roi) who previously had cramped conditions on the "tennis court" of the rue de L'Ancienne Comédie, were provided with the first "monument/theatre" in Paris. It stood as the central feature in a town planning design for land owned by the Prince de Condé; the architects in charge were Marie-Joseph Peyre and Charles de Wailly . The project was exemplary for both the scale in the urban setting and the harmonious proportions of the interior. It was also the first theatre with a proscenium arch stage where the audience in the stalls were seated on benches.

The Comte de Provence, brother to King Louis XVI, laid the first stone in October 1780, after more than ten years of battling between parties interested in developing the land. He had inherited the grounds of the Hôtel de Condé which he donated for the building and also paid for the construction work. In the intervening period, the theatre company had found temporary accommodation in the enormous machine room at the Tuileries Palace.