ABSTRACT

A vast amount of dramatic or quasi-dramatic activity took place in the nineteenth century outside the regular theatres. This activity was generally classified by the police as ‘petits spectacles’ or ‘spectacles de curiosité’, and the concept related to what, historically, had been fairground sideshows. These ranged from the smaller theatres such as the Funambules, the Acrobates or the Petit Lazari in Paris to street entertainers and puppet-showmen. In 1825 the Almanach des spectacles listed the Acrobates (temporarily closed), the Funambules, the Petit Lazari (also closed), the Théâtre forain du Luxembourg, Séraphin’s puppet-theatre, Pierre’s ‘spectacle mécanique’, the Panorama, Diorama and Cosmorama, together with a ‘Componium ou improvisateur musical’, ‘Soirées urbanographiques’ (‘all astronomical problems are solved there’) and a human fossil. Some of these were rather expensive for the popular purse. The Diorama, which was fashionable, cost either 3 francs or 2 francs 30. Most of the ‘curiosités’, including a number that do not appear on this list, were much cheaper. Such entertainments often attracted the poorer class of spectator, who could not afford a seat in a regular theatre, and for this reason those that offered dramatic entertainment were regarded with suspicion by the authorities. In the provinces the petits spectacles sometimes provided the only theatrical fare available, especially outside the larger towns, and catered for what today would be described as the non-public.