'… his innovative approach and finely marshalled erudition make this sophisticated study of great value to those interested in European theatre history.' Thomas Wynn, French Studies

In the late eighteenth century, a movement to transform France's theatre architecture united the nation. Playwrights, philosophers, and powerful agents including King Louis XV rejected the modified structures that had housed the plays of Racine and Molière, and debated which playhouse form should support the future of French stagecraft. In The First Frame, Pannill Camp argues that these reforms helped to lay down the theoretical and practical foundations of modern theatre space. Examining dramatic theory, architecture, and philosophy, Camp explores how architects, dramatists, and spectators began to see theatre and scientific experimentation as parallel enterprises. During this period of modernisation, physicists began to cite dramatic theory and adopt theatrical staging techniques, while playwrights sought to reveal observable truths of human nature. Camp goes on to show that these reforms had consequences for the way we understand both modern theatrical aesthetics and the production of scientific knowledge in the present day.

Introduction: the 'first frame' of Enlightenment theatre space
1. The divided scene of theatre space in the Neo-classical era
2. The theatrical frame in French Neo-classical dramatic theory
3. Enlightenment spectators and the theatre of experiment
4. Theatre architecture reform and the spectator as sense function
5. Optics and stage space in Enlightenment theatre design
Epilogue: modern spectatorial consciousness
Appendix: dedicated public theatres built in France, 1752–90.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Theatre: technical & background skills [ANH], Architectural structure & design [AMC]