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The theatre company was torn between a monarchist faction, willing to humour their patrons, and a revolutionary faction. In 1791, the tragedian François-Joseph Talma, who had recently triumphed in "Charles IX", led his republican comrades to the Richelieu hall in the Théâtre de la République (today's Comédie Française).

In 1793 a play entitled L'Ami des Lois, which was a virulent attack on the violence of the Reign of Terror, was banned by the Conseil Général; then another play, Pamela ou la Vertu récompensée, finally caused the theatre to be closed and the actors to be imprisoned for unpatriotic behaviour :

"September 2, 1793. Given the disturbances at the last performance of Paméla at the Théâtre-Français, where patriots were insulted, and given that actors and actresses of this theatre have shown great disloyalty to the nation since the Revolution and have performed unpatriotic plays, the Committee for Public Safety has decided that: the Théâtre-Français shall be closed and that the actors of the Théâtre-Français and the author of Pamela, François de Neufchâteau, shall be placed under arrest and in custody and their papers retained under seal."