Blog | HPRG The Comédie-Française closes for a year and opens a temporary theatre in Palais Royal on 12th January 2012 – Hotels Paris Rive Gauche Blog

The Comédie-Française closes for a year and opens a temporary theatre in Palais Royal on 12th January 2012

The historic main building will be closed for a year to bring it up to today’s health and safety standards (including restoration of the glass roof, and a new lift for wheelchairs).

In the meantime a temporary wooden theatre has been constructed in the Palais Royal gardens just behind…

Photo by Stéphane Goldstein used under cc licence

If you attended the Paris Quartier d’Eté festival a couple of years ago, you’ll know that it’s quite possible to set up a makeshift performance space in the Palais Royal gardens, however this is the frist time that a structure has been designed to stay there for a year.

Designed with the Comédie-Française’s beehive logo in mind, the temporary 742-seat theatre is ecologically designed with good acoustics and energy use, and will be the company’s home until January 2013. Built by French company Anglade Structure Bois, it took four months to build, with the main structure being finished in October 2011…

French-speakers who want to learn more about this interesting architectural project can attend a talk on 31st January 2012, during the performing arts trade faire, the SIEL at the Grande Halle de la Villette.

And if you want to go see the theatre itself, there are classics by Molière and Feydeau on offer, a perfect introduction to some of France’s greatest playwrights. The full programme can be seen here (PDF).The other two theatres attached to the Comédie-Française, the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier (not far from our hotels) and the Studio-Théâtre (under the Louvre) are unaffected by the works, and continue as normal.

For more tech specs about the temporary theatre, French-speakers can consult the document below by clicking on the first button bottom left (to go into fullscreen modes) or simply clicking here.

Official Comédie-Française site in English: www.comedie-francaise.fr

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BONUS! This TV report followed the construction over four months. Even if you don’t speak French, the images tell a good story…

And don’t forget that there are still a few days left to see the exhibition about the Comédie-Française at the Petit Palais…