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Théâtre Georges-Leygues de Villeneuve-sur-Lot dans le Lot-et-Garonne

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine urbain
Théâtre
Lot-et-Garonne

Théâtre Georges-Leygues de Villeneuve-sur-Lot

    2 boulevard de la République
    47300 Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Crédit photo : MOSSOT - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1905
Fire from the Café de la Comédie
1914
People's House Project
1927
Georges Leygues funding offer
1931-1935
Construction of theatre
28 septembre 1935
Inauguration of the theatre
12 septembre 2008
Registration for historical monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The theatre in full, with the parvis and its terminals (cf. HM 323): inscription by decree of 12 September 2008

Key figures

Georges Leygues - Financer and politician Offered and financed the construction.
Guillaume Tronchet - Architect Designer of theatre in Art Deco style.
Jean et Joël Martel - Sculptors Authors of bas-reliefs of the facade.
Gaston Rapin - Municipal architect Supervised the construction work.
Sacha Guitry - Playwright Author of the opening piece.

Origin and history

The Georges-Leygues Theatre in Villeneuve-sur-Lot was built between 1931 and 1935 to replace the Café de la Comédie, destroyed by a fire in 1905. After this event, the shows were given under the city hall. In 1914 Georges Leygues, then chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, proposed a project for a "People's House" that could accommodate 900 people, but it was never realized.

In 1927 Georges Leygues offered to finance the construction of a new theatre if the municipality found a location. The site of the former prison, built in 1861 on the boulevard de la République, was chosen. The architect Guillaume Tronchet, a native of Villeneuve-sur-Lot and author of the Ducourneau theatre of Agen, was responsible for the project. He designed an Art Deco-style reinforced concrete building with a facade decorated with a Corinthian colonnade and sculptures depicting Comedy, Tragedy and Music, made by the brothers Jean and Joël Martel.

The works were carried out by Henri Corne de Villeneuve-sur-Lot, under the supervision of Gaston Rapin, a communal architect. The theatre was inaugurated on 28 September 1935 with the creation of the play La Fin du monde by Sacha Guitry. In 2008, he was listed as a historical monument, recognizing its architectural and cultural value.

The theatre is distinguished by its main stairway with divergent climbs and its rotating secondary stairways. Its interior layout follows a tripartite distribution, with an Italian-style room framed with galleries and service parts. The exterior walls are made of brick and stone, while the supporting structure uses reinforced concrete, typical of the buildings of this time.

This monument illustrates Georges Leygues' commitment to culture and the influence of Art Deco in public architecture of the 1930s. Today, it remains a central place in the cultural life of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, perpetuating its original vocation as a municipal theatre.

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