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Origin and history

The Déjazet Theatre is a Parisian theatre located at 41 boulevard du Temple in the 3rd arrondissement. Built on the site of an ancient palm game built in 1770 by the Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVI, this place welcomed Mozart in 1778. In 1851 he became a café-concert under the name Folies-Mayer, then Folies-Nouvelles in 1854, under the direction of Hervé, pioneer of the operetta. In 1859, actress Virginie Déjazet took the lead and gave her her current name, making a full theatre.

Between 1859 and 1939, the Déjazet theatre alternated between success and financial difficulties, welcoming popular vaudevilles such as Tire-au-flanc (1,026 performances) and authors such as Victorien Sardou. In 1939, he was transformed into a cinema, before being reborn as a theatre in 1977, with figures like Coluche. From 1986 to 1992, he became the Théâtre Libertaire de Paris (TLP-Déjazet), welcoming committed artists such as Léo Ferré, Graeme Allwright or Catherine Lara. The hall, listed as a historical monument in 1990, is remarkable for its frescoes by Honoré Daumier and its architecture preserved from Haussmannian transformations.

The theatre survived thanks to its location, escaping the Haussmannian breakthroughs of 1862, especially that of the Place de la République. After decades of decline and changes of vocation (cinema, music-hall), it has been restored and remains an emblematic cultural place. Its history reflects the evolutions of the Parisian stage arts, from café-concert to engaged theatre and cinema. Today, he continues a tradition of performing in a context full of history.

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