ABSTRACT
On July 14, 1895, the socialist municipal councilors of France, who were assembled in Paris for their third congress, adjourned deliberations to attend the theater. The plays they saw were not standard Parisian fare. The spectacle was described as “social theater,” an alternative to, indeed a transcendence of, bourgeois theater. The plays were written by socialists, and they carried a message, which at once reflected the outlook of the spectators and bound them more closely in their common enterprise. The published account of the congress contained this report of the evening: “The members of the congress, many of whom were accompanied by their family and friends, as well as a large number of socialist militants … experienced at the performance of these two beautiful productions, a sensation superior to [mere] artistic enjoyment, which flowed from the communion of socialist ideas and socialist hearts.” 1
