Description
Book SynopsisStagestruck traces the making of a vibrant French theater industry between the reign of Louis XIV and the French Revolution.
Trade ReviewClay uses rich and diverse sources to prove that dramatic performance, like luxury goods and other examples of material culture, reached a great number of French subjects during the eighteenth century.... Stagestruck is a carefully argued attack against the narrative of Parisian primacy that still dominates cultural discourses today, and a necessary read for any student of eighteenth-century French theatre as well as political, cultural, and economic history.
-- Logan J. Connors * French Studies *
"Lauren Clay's important new study documents a veritable theater boom whose extent had never been fully apprehended. She achieves a delicate balance between geographic and temporal breadth of coverage and depth of researchwriting a truly national yet locally grounded history that does justice to individuals taking actions in specific situations. By documenting the formation and day-to-day operations of a national marketplace for culture in eighteenth-century FranceStagestruck makes vital contributions to our fledgling understanding of markets in an increasingly commercial society." —Thierry Rigogne,The Journal of Modern History
Lauren Clay's study of the business of theatre in eighteenth-century France is a model of ambitious thoughtful research. This is the rare work of French history that is truly national in scale and the author offers well-reasoned contributions to multiple fields of history.... [An] elegantly written and stunningly researched book.
-- Clare Haru Crowston * Canadian Journal of History *
Lauren R. Clay's take on the business of theatre in eighteenth-century France feels both vital and fresh, thanks to its focus on provincial France and its colonies rather than a more frequent Paris-centric take.... Her study is an engaging and necessary one, providing scholars and students alike with a new perspective from which to understand cultural production in the eighteenth century.
-- Claire Trevien * French History *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Making of a French Theater Industry1. Investing in the Arts2. Designing the Civic Playhouse3. The Extent and Limits of State Intervention4. Directors and the Business of Performing5. The Work of Acting6. Consumers of Culture7. The Production of Theater in the ColoniesEpilogue: Culture, Commerce, and the StateAppendix: Timeline of Inaugurations and Significant Renovations of Dedicated Public Theaters in France and the French Colonies, 1671–1789Notes
Bibliography of Primary Sources
Index
