The Contested Parterre: Public Theater and French Political Culture, 1680-1791. (Reviews).

Jeffery S. Ravel, The Contested Parterre: Public Theater and French Political Culture, 1680-1791.

Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 1999. x + 256 pp. $42.50 (cl), $19.95 (pbk). ISBN: 0-8014-8541-X.

One of the most difficult aspects of early modern theatre history is documenting the relationship between performance and contemporary political culture. In this study, Jeffery S. Ravel aims for the theatre of pre-Revolutionary France and lands on target via the "parterre." This term refers to the unstructured, ground-floor space in a seventeenth- or eighteenth-century theatre that fell between the stage and the boxes, but also designates the group of male spectators who occupied that space: "the parterre misbehaved, it caused a play to fail, it adored a certain actress" (10). Ravel shows how this group gradually came to exemplify the public at large, and even the nation as a whole. The increasing attempts by government institutions to control the parterre during these two centuries were indicative of the increasing conflict between the public and king that eventually led to the Revolution.

In the first chapter, "Parterre Practices in Eighteenth-Century Paris," Ravel offers an overview of the parterre. By following the actions of the group on a typical day which would include attendance at a theatrical performance, he reveals the social composition of the spectators, the place of the theatre in relation to their daily lives, and their conduct outside and inside the theatre (especially audience participation with the players). This chapter shows the extraordinary power that the audience had over theatrical performance during this time and forms the basis for Ravel's argument of the audience reflecting the "the transition from absolutist rule to modern democracy" (66).

In the second chapter, "Origins of the Contested Parterre, 1630-80," Ravel gives a history of the parterre under Louis XIII, Louis XIV, and Cardinal Richelieu. He includes the social geography of the public theatre and the court theatre, and discusses the beginnings of parterre policing along with the institutional founding of the Comedie-Francaise. The third chapter, "'The Parterre Becomes an Actor,' 1680-1725," is about the "critical juncture" when the parterre came to power in the French theatre (10); Ravel covers such areas as the Comedie-Francaise versus the Comedie-Italienne and spectators at fairground theatres, then culminates in a discussion of the Parterre's role in ruining the 1724 production of Voltaire's Mariamne.

The fourth chapter, "Policing the Parisian Parterre, 1697-1751," contains an outline of the government's efforts to control behavior in the Parisian theatres, including a violent incident at the Comedie-Francaise in 1691; reforms by d'Argenson, the lieutenant general of police at the turn of the century; the tenure of Bazin at the Comedie-Francaise and his aggressive endeavors to control the parterre; and the status of parterre policing by the mid-eighteenth century. In the fifth chapter, "Policing the Parterre in Paris and the Provinces, 1751-89," the author discusses theatre policing throughout France until the time of the Revolution, including Paris, Angers, Bordeaux, and other provincial cities.

In the sixth and last chapter, "The Parterre and French National Identity in the Eighteenth Century," Ravel's thesis culminates in a discussion about the post-1750 parterre "as representative of larger, more politicized notions such as the 'public' or the 'nation"' (11). For evidence of this new attitude, he analyzes various theatrical anecdotes as well as documents relating to the controversy over installing benches in the parterre. His final proof of the power and importance of theatre in political, social, and educational spheres can be found in the 1791 laws that shattered the Bourbon theatrical regime.

Ravel synthesizes printed and manuscript sources with care, mixing existing scholarship with his own archival discoveries. While he displays an intimate familiarity with theoretical ideas, he avoids jargon, and his choice of examples to illustrate trends are often highly amusing. For instance, when the Parisian fair players were forbidden to perform using dialogue, Ravel explains how this opened up communication with the parterre. During one performance parodying the Comedie-Francaise, Harlequin cried to the audience, "File a complaint, file a complaint!" and another actor -- loaded down with heavy books -- began to read to the spectators from The Art of Speaking by Oneself Invented by French Actors (123). By going beyond tired philosophical documents and consulting a wider variety of sources -- like the case history above -- to study the behavior of the parterre, Ravel contributes a unique perspective on the relevance of theatre to political culture in early modern France.