Le Grand Guginol

The theater typically exists as a comfortable place where an audience can escape the

harsh realities of life and lose themselves in a story. From 1897 to 1962, a small theater in Paris took patrons out of reality and into setting a much more macabre than their normal lives. The Grand-Guignol was a theater that almost exclusively played gory, violent, and erotic plays. While one-act comedies were performed as palette cleansers between horror acts, it was the short horror plays that gave the theater its reputation (Pierron 99). To explore this movement, I will discuss one of the plays performed there starting in 1905. Gardiens de phare, or The Lighthouse Keepers in English, was originally written by Paul Autier and Paul Cloquemin. For this essay, I will refer to the translation found in Richard J. Hand and Micheal Wilson’s book, Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror.

Autier and Cloquemin’s play was their only contribution to The Grand-Guignol, but it has remained one of the most remembered plays produced for the theater. The story follows a father and son duo, Brehan and Yvon, who are in charge of the Maudit Lighthouse. Themes of isolation, contamination, and claustrophobia combine in the play, resulting in a horrible fate for the two men (Hand & Wilson 110). Stuck in a tower surrounded by the sea, Yvon is slowly overcome with rabies. Eventually, his father strangles him before the disease can progress any further. This happens at the start of the pair’s time on the island, so Brehan is forced to live with his son’s dead body for a month (Hand & Wilson 109-111). Despite this disturbing synopsis for the play, it is actually one of the less gory productions to take The Grand-Guignol’s stage.

Before I go into any further detail about this specific play, I want to discuss the popular

theatre traditions in France during this time. The Grand-Guignol intended to shock audiences unlike any other theater could but it also followed many common trends of the era. Naturalism was a style that occurred in many forms of pop culture during the turn of the century in Paris. Emilie Zola was the first to popularize the term ‘Naturalism’ in reference to literature (Mambrol1). Naturalism denotes that literature should be an accurate representation of reality. Zola wanted stories with a focus on intellectualism and scientific explanations. This was a movement trying to leave behind the supernatural phenomena that was once a common occurrence in literature and instead take a ‘slice of life’ approach (Mambrol 1). These guidelines are followed in The Grand-Guignol as all their productions focus on the horror of mankind rather than a supernatural antagonist. Another key characteristic of Naturalism is to be morally neutral in storytelling. Zola held the belief that stories should have an observable truth and the audience can make their own moral judgment (Mambrol 1). This opposes the previous popular movements of Romanticism

and Idealism that urge the audience to accept the moral perspective of an author (Mambrol 1). While the plays performed at The Grand-Guignol are dark and disturbing, they are presented as an objective truth. The audience is not urged to support or abhor the characters, instead they are meant to come to their own conclusions.

The Grand-Guignol specialized in horror, but it was still considered a popular theater for the era. The first popular theaters were created in Paris starting in 1895. The use of popular in this case does not refer to success and attention. Instead, popular theaters were meant to entertain the regular populous who were not welcome in the theaters of the high class (Fisher 462). A major supporter of the movement was Maurice Pottecher, founder of ‘People’s Theatre’ which opened on September 1st, 1895 (Fisher 463). According to Pottecher’s belief system, and described by author David James Fisher:

Popular art could, he believed, focus on social issues; art and social reform should be combined. The content of popular drama should be neither utilitarian, nor philanthropic, nor moralistic. Through simple direction and ingenious decor, the people's theatre would demonstrate, not indoctrinate. Neither should it widen class divisions nor address itself to a single political party with a view to intensifying social antagonisms (Fisher 463).

This definition is also in line with Zola’s description of Naturalism and firmly situates The

Grand-Guignol into these movements

Now that we understand the context surrounding The Grand-Guignol, I will discuss the

inception of the theater and its typical operations. In 1887, Andre Antoine founded the Théâtre Libre. This was a theater focusing on naturalistic plays, and it was one of the largest popular theaters at the time. After Théâtre Libre went bankrupt, one of Antoine’s collaborators was inspired to start his own theater. Oscar Méténier founded The Grand-Guignol in 1897, following the naturalistic model set by Théâtre Libre (Hand & Wilson 4). The theater focused on the brutal lives of the working class, creating immediate success for the theater as these stories were not usually told accurately (‘History’ Savage). In 1898, Méténier gave ownership of the theater to Max Maurey, who implemented many of the programs and special effects that changed the reputation of the theater from a naturalistic playhouse to a ‘house of horrors’ (Hand & Wilson 4) The reason for the change in ownership is unknown, but Maurey is credited for turning the theater into a unique, successful, and long-lasting phenomenon (Hand & Wilson 4).Kendris 4 A night of programming at The Grand-Guignol typically included a variety of short plays. The types of performances alternated throughout the night, starting with a few horror productions and ending with a short comedy. This change of genre was referred to as a ‘hot and cold shower’(Hand & Wilson 5). To understand the level of horror that was put on stage, I have an excerpt from the Grand Street Journal discussing the career of Paula Maxa, an actress at the

theater starting in 1917:

During her career at The Grand-Guignol, Maxa, “the most assassinated woman in

the world,” was subjected to a range of tortures unique in theatrical history: she

was shot with a rifle, and with a revolver, scalped, strangled, disembowled, raped,

guillotined, hanged, quartered, burned, cut apart with surgical tools and lancets,

stung by a scorpion, poisoned with arsenic, devoured by a puma, strangled by a

pearl necklace and whipped (Pierron 99).

This level of depravity was the standard for The Grand-Guignol. After the gruesome acts, the

audience was given a chance to recover from the terror they just watched on stage. Some

common selections of comedies at The Grand-Guignol, when translated into English, are called Ernestine is furious, Hey! Cocotte!, and Adele is fat (Pierron 99). These recovery plays, however, did not keep patrons of the theater from fainting, vomiting, or soiling themselves. In fact, it was a common occurrence to see people vomiting in the alleyway in front of The Grand-Guignol (‘Location’ Savage).

This alleyway, and general positioning, of The Grand-Guignol was also instrumental to

the theater’s success and reputation. Located in the crime-filled Pigalle district of Paris, The

Grand-Guignol sat at the end of a long, dimly lit, cobblestone street (‘Location’ Savage). The

exterior of the theater was painted with dark accents and gothic elements left over from thebuilding’s previous existence as a church (‘Location’ Savage). The theater reclaimed the

building's interior, but kept religious iconography as an aesthetic feature to further unsettle the audience. A highlight of these religious details was the large angel sculptures that protruded from the wall and watched over the audience (‘Location’ Savage).The venue also only held 294 seats, meaning that every audience member was close to the stage and could feel as though they were in the scene with the actors (‘Location’ Savage).

With this knowledge of The Grand-Guignol’s reputation and history, I can now place The Lighthouse Keepers into context. The original author’s of the play, Paul Autier and Paul

Cloquemin, are almost entirely lost to history. The only accessible mention of either man is in

reference to their authorship of The Lighthouse Keepers. As for any information about the duo's personal life, background, or even other works, it was much more difficult to find. I used my limited knowledge of the French language to scour the Paris Biblioteques Patrimoniales, a Paris library database that contains thousands of historical documents. This online resource contained one relevant scanned document: a record from ‘L’association Amicale des Régisseurs des Théâtres Français’, or ‘The Association of Directors of French Theatres’ in English (Kendris, Theodore). This document shows Paul Autier’s involvement with the organization as well as a few personal details. It first reveals that Paul Autier was a stage name and that he was born as Paul Edmond. He was given a short biography on the first two pages of the document, but it was written in French. While I am not fluent in French, my dad is a French professor and has a PhD in French Literature. With these qualifications in mind, I asked him for a translation of the document. The information below is not a word-for-word translation, but it is sourced from the original document about Paul ‘Autier’ Edmond. Roughly, the document says that Paul Edmond was born in Jeumont, France in 1866.

This was an industrial area, and it was unusual that someone from the region would enter a

career in theatre (Kendris, Theodore). He got his start at Théâtre Libre as a ‘general director’

alongside the theater’s founder Andre Antoine. Autier also was a founding member of ‘The

Association of Directors of French Theatres’ in the role of secretary general. Autier later became the fourth president of the association as well as the Vice President of ‘The Union of

Artists’ (Kendris, Theodore).

Despite its short length, this biography can give a few clues to the creation of The

Lighthouse Keepers. Due to his birth in an industrial area, it can be inferred that this upbringing had drawn Autier to Théâtre Libre’s productions about working class citizens. This demographic was then utilized in his own play with the characters Behan and Yvon. Unfortunately, I have found no biographical information about Paul Cloquemin, so I can only analyze from the perspective of Paul Autier.

The Lighthouse Keepers was well documented in script, staging and performance. First performed in May of 1905, The Lighthouse Keepers took the 7 by 7 meter stage of The Grand-Guignol (Hand & Wilson 31). Due to the small size of the stage, there was little space for highly decorated sets. Instead, audience’s were drawn in by the intimate setting and a strong delivery from the actors (Hand & Wilson 111). The set is described as “A simple room, circular or with cut-off corners, a door to the right. On the left, a bunk; in the center, a table and two wooden stools” (Hand & Wilson 112). Without the need for the gory visual effects featured in most Grand-Guignol productions, The Lighthouse Keepers mainly utilized practical sound effects such as seagulls pecking at the windows and wailing coming from a far distance (Hand & Wilson 111). These elements increased tension and claustrophobia in the audience in an attempt to create an insanity inducing atmosphere.

The theme of insanity was incredibly popular at The Grand-Guignol when The

Lighthouse Keepers debuted. Scientific research into mental illness was only just beginning, but the few cataloged cases of ‘insanity’ were frequently adapted into plays (Pierron 96). In The Lighthouse Keepers, this bout of insanity was brought on by rabies. A vaccine against rabies had been discovered twenty years before, but the fear of contamination and disease was still very relevant in France at the time (Hand & Wilson 110). While there are no reviews of the play when it premiered, it can be assumed that the performance was incredibly well received based on the slew of performances and adaptations that followed its debut. A film version of the play was created in 1929 and there were several reprises of the work at The Grand-Guignol through 1933 (Hand & Wilson 109). But even with this level of popularity, The Lighthouse Keeper still owed some of its success to the time period it was created in.

The Grand-Guignol closed its doors in 1962, but the decline of the theater had been

evident since before World War II. In conjunction with the public healing from the real horrors of World War I, The Grand-Guignol hired a new director named Jack Jouvin in 1930 (Pierron 100). Patrons found that the excessive amount of horror elements in the newer plays had become self-parodying and no longer scary (Pierron 100). The final director for the theater, Charles Nonon, discussed it’s closure in an interview:

Before the war, everyone believed what happened on stage was purely imaginary; now we know that these things - and worse - are possible (Pierron 100)

The Grand-Guignol historian Alex Savage offers another explanation for the

closure:

Going into the second world war there was a small resurgence in its popularity

amongst Nazi audiences occupying Paris. Nazi enjoyment was so great that actors tell of high ranking officers personally complimenting their performances and special effects. This greatly impacted the theater’s post-war operations as Parisian antipathy for supposed Nazi collaboration led to a financial reliance upon tourists (‘History’ Savage).

Whether the theater’s closure was political, cultural, or simply the result of poor-business

decisions, The Grand-Guignol no longer exists.

The influence of The Grand-Guignol, however, did not end when the theater permanently shut its doors. Traces of what made The Grand-Guignol so appealing to the citizens of Paris at the start of the twentieth century are still present in horror media of the modern age. The Terrifier Trilogy is an excellent example of over-the-top visual effects and shocking on screen violence that has been commercially successful in recent years. Even elements of The Lighthouse Keepers style of horror appear in large scale productions have remained relevant. Lighthouse (2019) with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe tells the story of two lighthouse keepers who have to retain their sanity in the isolated, stormy, tower . This film is set in the 1890s and the duo, while not related, are also one young man and one old man. Lighthouse (2019) has a supernatural element, but several other details mirror that of Autier and Cloquemin’s play.

The Grand-Guignol was an important predecessor to the modern horror genre as well as a cultural staple in Paris for decades. The Grand-Guignol was born from the Naturalism movement and transformed into a new tradition of theater that was unique to Paris. Violent, erotic, and gory plays captivated the early 1900s audiences who had never been exposed to the depravity of mankind before. I chose to research this topic because of how formal my perspective of Paris in the 1900s was.

I never imagined that a theater like the Grand-Guignol would be allowed to run, let alone thrive for over 60 years. The popularity of the theater shows that humans have always had a morbid curiosity. This paired well with the knowledge that the violence was fake. Watching plays at The Grand-guignol was cathartic to audiences because of the ‘safety’ of a theater environment, but they still got to observe the gruesome scenes as if they were a real bystander.

The Grand-Guignol existed long before the modern horror tropes that have become socially acceptable to audiences today. Alternative forms of media have existed for centuries, but they tend to be under-documented. My difficulty finding information about Paul Autier and Paul Cloquemin put the issue in perspective for me. Even author’s whose works are remembered today can easily slip away in time. In fact, most of the research in this essay comes from sources of the few individuals who have dedicated themselves to making sure the memory of The Grand-Guignol is preserved. This essay is just a toe-dip into the research people like Alex Savage and Hand & Wilson have done. But the world of researchers of The Grand-Guignol is small and I hope that my essay can keep the spirit of this morbid theater tradition alive.

Work Cited

Grand Guginol .pdf

Download PDF • 148KB