Oscar Méténier
Encyclopedia
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and novelist. In 1897 he founded Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol
Grand Guignol
Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol — known as the Grand Guignol — was a theatre in the Pigalle area of Paris . From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962 it specialized in naturalistic horror shows...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, planning it as a space for naturalist
Naturalism (art)
Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. The Realism movement of the 19th century advocated naturalism in reaction to the stylized and idealized depictions of subjects in Romanticism, but many painters have adopted a similar approach over the centuries...
performance.
Life
Son of a police commissioner, Oscar Méténier at first followed his father into the police, as secretary to the commissariat of la Tour Saint-Jacques, in which role he was able to observe the morals of low-life ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, for which he had a near-scientific interest and eye. Laurent Tailhade
Laurent Tailhade
Laurent Tailhade was a French satirical poet, anarchist polemicist, essayist, and translator, active in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s...
wrote of him:
A follower of Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, he wrote naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
novellas, generally gravelly in style, and pieces in argot
Argot
An Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
for Le Chat Noir
Le Chat Noir
Le Chat Noir was a 19th-century cabaret, meaning entertainment house, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris...
. He made his reputation with naturalist plays set among vagabonds
Vagabond (person)
A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....
, Apaches and prostitutes and expressed in the language of the street. In 1896 his Mademoiselle Fifi
Mademoiselle Fifi
Mademoiselle Fifi may refer to:*Fifi D'Orsay , Canadian-American actress billed as "Mademoiselle Fifi"*Mademoiselle Fifi , a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant published in 1882...
, previously temporarily banned by the police, was the first ever French play to include a prostitute character. The following year, Méténier's Lui ! showed a meeting between a murderer and a prostitute in a hotel bedroom.
In 1897, Oscar Méténier bought a theatre at the end of the impasse Chaptal (IXe arrondissement
IXe arrondissement
The 9th arrondissement , located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains many places of cultural, historical, and architectural interest, including the Palais Garnier, home to the Paris Opera, Boulevard Haussmann and its large department stores of Galeries...
) to present his own plays. This was the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, one of the most original theatres in Paris, and he remained its director until 1898.
Plays
- En famille, 1 act prose comedy, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 30 May 1887
- La Casserole, 1 act prose drama, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 31 May 1889
- Les Frères Zemganno, 3 act prose play, after EdmondEdmond de GoncourtEdmond de Goncourt , born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.-Biography:...
and Jules de GoncourtJules de GoncourtJules de Goncourt , born Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, who published books together with his brother Edmond.- Works :With Edmond de Goncourt:* Sœur Philomène...
, written in collaboration with Paul AlexisPaul AlexisPaul Alexis was a French novelist, dramatist, and journalist. He is best remembered today as the friend and biographer of Émile Zola.-Life:...
, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 25 February 1890 - Monsieur Betsy, 4 act prose comedy, written in collaboration with Paul AlexisPaul AlexisPaul Alexis was a French novelist, dramatist, and journalist. He is best remembered today as the friend and biographer of Émile Zola.-Life:...
, Paris, Théâtre des VariétésThéâtre des VariétésThe Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
, 3 March 1890 - La Confrontation, dramatic scene, Paris, Théâtre de la Scala, 21 December 1891
- La bonne à tout faire, 4 act prose comedy, in collaboration with Jean-Louis Dubut de Laforest, Paris, Théâtre des VariétésThéâtre des VariétésThe Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
, 20 February 1892 - Rabelais, 4 act, 5 scene play, with Jean-Louis Dubut de Laforest, Paris, Nouveau-Théâtre, 25 October 1892
- Charles Demailly, 4 act prose play, after EdmondEdmond de GoncourtEdmond de Goncourt , born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.-Biography:...
and Jules de GoncourtJules de GoncourtJules de Goncourt , born Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, who published books together with his brother Edmond.- Works :With Edmond de Goncourt:* Sœur Philomène...
, in collaboration with Paul AlexisPaul AlexisPaul Alexis was a French novelist, dramatist, and journalist. He is best remembered today as the friend and biographer of Émile Zola.-Life:...
, Paris, Théâtre du GymnaseThéâtre du Gymnase Marie BellThe Théâtre du Gymnase or Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell, is a theatre in Paris, at 38, boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle in the 10th arrondissement .-History:...
, 19 December 1892 (Summary by Willy and Edmond de Goncourt) - Très Russe, 3 act play, in collaboration with Jean LorrainJean LorrainJean Lorrain , born Paul Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school....
, Paris, Théâtre-d'application (La Bodinière), 3 May 1893 - Mademoiselle Fifi, drama, after Guy de MaupassantGuy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 10 February 1896 - La Brême, mœurs populaires, drama, Paris, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 13 April 1897
- Le Loupiot, tableau de mœurs populaires, en 2 scènes, Paris, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 13 avril 1897
- Lui !, 1 act drama, Paris, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 11 November 1897
- La Revanche de Dupont l'Anguille, drame en 3 tableaux, Paris, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 1898
- Son poteau, drama, in collaboration with Raoul Ralph, Paris, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 10 April 1901
- Boule de suif, 3 act, 4 scene comedy, in collaboration with Guy de MaupassantGuy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
, Paris, Théâtre Antoine, 6 May 1902 - Casque d'Or, drama, in collaboration with Fabrice Delphi, Paris, Théâtre Robinière, 16 March 1902
- Notre-Dame de la Butte, mœurs montmartroises, drama, in collaboration with Fabrice Delphi, 1907
- Madame ma sœur, 1 act play, 1910
- La Moukère, 1 act drama, in collaboration with René Mélinette, 1910
- Royal-cambouis, 1 act military play, Paris, Scala, 1910
Novels, novellas, essays
- La Chair (1885)
- La Grâce (1886)
- Madame Berwick (1888)
- Outre-Rhin (1888)
- Mynha-Maria (1889)
- Autour de la caserne, novellas (1890)
- Madame la Boule (1890)
- Le mari de Berthe (1890)
- Le Gorille, Parisian novel (1891) Text on www.gutenberg.org
- La Lutte pour l'amour, études d'argot (1891)
- Les Voyous au théâtre (1891)
- Zézette, mœurs foraines, novel (1891) Text on www.gutenberg.org
- Les Cabots (1892)
- Le Policier, roman
- Barbe-Bleue (1893)
- Le Beau monde (1893)
- Le Chansonnier populaire Aristide Bruant (1893)
- La Nymphomane, mœurs parisiennes (1893)
- Demi-castors (mœurs parisiennes) (1894)
- La Grâce. Décadence. Nostalgie (1894)
- La Vie de campagne. Marcelle (1894)
- Le 40e d'artillerie. Les bêtes. Les hommes. La croix, novellas (1895)
- L'Amour vaincu. Bohème galante, bohème bourgeoise, novellas (1896)
- L'amour qui tue (1898)
- Reines de cœur, mœurs d'Outre-Rhin (1900-1910)
- Les Berlinois chez eux, vertus et vices allemands (1904)
- Une gamine vicieuse (1905)
- Le jeune télégraphiste (1905)
- Tartufes et satyres, unedited epic-dramatic novel (1905), which he wanted to form "a veritable encyclopaedia of the human passions" and was to have comprised : 1) Le marché aux vierges, 2) Le miroir à gigolettes, 3) Berlingot-la-Vache, 4) Les satyres en famille, 5) Les tricheuses de l'amour, 6) La môme claque-dents, 7) Le charcutier parfumé, etc.
- Les Amoureux de Mira, Parisian novel (1907)
- Nina Sartorelle : mœurs parisiennes (1907)
- Les Baronnes de Roche-Noire (1908)
- Reine de cœur (1908)
- Notre-Dame de la Butte (1908)
- La dernière aventure du Prince Curaçao (1910)
- Les méprises du cœur (1910)
- Soldes de contes (1911)
- Le grand chéri (1911)
External links
- Laurent Tailhade, Text on Oscar Méténier