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THE PEOPLE'S THEATER

ance, have brought him the success he deserves, and will reserve for him a place of honor in history as the founder of the first People's Theater in France.

At about the same time Louis Lumet went from neighborhood to neighborhood in Paris with his Théâtre civique,[1] whose function it was to offer artistic recitations and selections from plays, rather than integral performances.

In Poitou, the happy success of a topical play, a pastoral by M. Pierre Corneille, performed before a few peasants, led the author to found a People's Theater at La Mothe-Saint-Héraye. He organized this theatre in September, 1897, and made his début with La Légende de Chambrille. In September, 1898, he produced Érinna, prêtresse d'Hésus, a tragedy of classical model.

M. Le Goffic and M. Le Braz organized at Ploujean in Brittany (August, 1898) a production of an old sixteenth century mystery, La Vie de Saint-Gwénolé.

Shortly after, M. Émile Loux-Parassac founded a Théâtre des Alpes at Grenoble, where he produced a play dealing with the life of the people of Vallouise. He introduced old airs, romances, and Alpine dances, as well as the Bacchu-Ber, or sword dance.

And finally, the various performances at Nîmes,

  1. This was founded on July 3, 1897, by the little Enclos group: Louis Lumet, Charles-Louis Philippe, J.-G. Prod'homme, and Charles Max.