The Theatre of the Parisian Fairs and Reality

The theatres of the Parisian fairs in the early eighteenth century owe their artificiality both to their decision to adopt certain traditions from the Italian theatre, and to the ingenious ways in which they were forced into seeking to avoid laws preventing their use of dialogue in French and Italian. This led to the creation of the form known as opera-comique. Nevertheless, despite the artificiality of the form in which they were working, authors and actors preserved a link with the real world that clearly appealed to their audiences. This was most apparent in the dramatization of their own artistic conflicts with the rival French and Italian theatres.