{"id":12,"date":"2014-09-07T13:08:12","date_gmt":"2014-09-07T13:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chateaudedigoine.fr\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2020-07-08T14:11:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T14:11:14","slug":"theatre","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/chateaudedigoine.fr\/en\/theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"The theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The small theatre of Digoine is the real gem of the castle. Built in 1842 by the Count and the Countess of Chabrillan, it received many guests every summer. Some very well known, like the Goncourt brothers, who will later describe the theatre like a \u201csmaller scale version of the Versailles theatre\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Vue<\/a>

Small theatre<\/p><\/div>\n

A small theater that has everything of a big one<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Replica of Italian theatres of the 18th century, this authentic room was conceived by Pierre-Luc-Charles Cic\u00e9ri, a court painter and head designer of the Paris Opera. We owe him the magnificent stage curtain painted in a \u2018trompe-l\u2019\u0153il\u2019 way with imitations of draperies richly adorned. Behind the curtain, stage decorations which represent a forest, a prison, a kitchen and a living room are still very well preserved and from the same artist.<\/p>\n

\"Vue<\/a>

One of the theatre's decoration<\/p><\/div>\n

The room has perfect proportions, with its red, gold and white setting and its very particular room acoustic, and could invite around 200 guests while still possessing todays all the traditional attributes of a theatre : a stage with the complete machinery, the gallery, stage rooms, an orchestra pit and the prompter\u2019s box.<\/p>\n

A place of relaxation<\/strong>
<\/span><\/h4>\n

As a real \u2018th\u00e9\u00e2tre de soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u2019 (\u2018society theater\u2019), the atmosphere mixed entertainment and intimacy. For instance, to pay tribute to the lady of the house, it was common practice for the guests to put on a little show, an impromptu where they went on stage to caricature in a subtle way the other guests.<\/p>\n

The young cellist Jacques Offenbach, invited in this unique location by the Countess of Chabrillan in 1851, composed \u2018daydream by the seashore\u2019 and the \u2018Triumphal waltz of Digoine\u2019. Unfortunately, the partition of this last one has never been retrieved. Besides, in 1900, the stage-boards of the theatre have been used by the actress Sarah Bernhardt, who came to repeat a play from Edmond Rostand named \u2018l\u2019Aiglon\u2019 (eaglet).<\/p>\n

\"Quelle<\/a>

Jacques Offenbach by Nadar<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Daydream by the seashore<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n