Théâtre de l'Ambigu
| Les Comédiens de Bois | |
The entrance to the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the day of a free show. Louis-Léopold Boilly (1819)
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| Address | 62 boulevard du Temple, 11th arrondissement 48°52′01″N 2°21′54″E / 48.8670°N 2.3651°E Paris |
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| Opened | 9 July 1769 |
| Closed | burnt down 13 July 1827 |
The Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
on the boulevard Saint-Martin |
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| Address | 2 boulevard Saint-Martin, 10th arrondissement 48°52′07″N 2°21′33″E / 48.86860°N 2.35928°E Paris |
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| Construction | |
| Opened | 7 June 1828 |
| Demolished | 1966 |
The Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique (pronounced: [teɑtʁ də lɑ̃biɡy kɔmik], literally, Theatre of the Comic-Ambiguity), a former Parisian theatre, was founded in 1769 on the boulevard du Temple immediately adjacent to the Théâtre de Nicolet. It was rebuilt in 1770 and 1786, but in 1827 was destroyed by fire. A new, larger theatre with a capacity of 2,000 as compared to the earlier 1,250 was built nearby on the boulevard Saint-Martin at its intersection with the rue de Bondy and opened the following year. The theatre was eventually demolished in 1966.
It was founded in 1769 on the boulevard du Temple, originally known as the Promenades des Ramparts, in Paris by Nicolas-Médard Audinot, formerly a comedian of the Opéra-Comique, which he had left to become a puppet-master at the Paris fairs. Audinot had already been a success in one of the sites of the Saint-Germain Fair, where his large marionettes (called "bamboches") were in vogue.
Under the name of his foundation, the "Comédiens de bois", the Opéra-Comique proposed pantomimes and "féeries" (spectacles), then he enlarged his repertoire to include marionettes, child-performers, and acrobats, in comedies, vaudeville shows, "opéras comiques", dramas and pantomimes.
The variety and mix of these theatrical modes justified and explained changing the theatre's name, after only one year, from "Comédiens de bois" to "Ambigu-Comique" when Audinot substituted child-performers for marionettes. Audinot also used wooden puppets to spitefully reenact his former colleagues from the Comédie Italienne. Audinot saved the profits he made from shows and constructed a permanent theatre building on the Boulevard du Temple, which officially opened on July 9, 1769. The following April, Audinot added to his puppets with a few young children, who he trained up in the theatrical arts, and painted the motto "Sicut infantes audi nos" on the theatre's curtain. His success caused Delille to write "Dear Audinot, childhood attired as old age".
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