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A Performance at the Hotel de Bourgogne

The hall of the Hotel de Bourgogne, in 1640. It is a sort of tennis court arranged and decorated for a theatrical performance.

The hall is oblong and seen from an angle, so that one of its sides forms the back of the right foreground, and meeting the left background, makes an angle with the stage, which is partly visible.

On both sides of the stage are benches. The curtain is made up of two tapestries which can be drawn aside. Above the proscenium are the royal arms. There are broad steps from the stage to the hall. On either side of these steps are the places for the violinists. The footlights consist of a row of candles.

There are two rows, one over the other, of side galleries. The highest row is divided into boxes. There are no seats in the pit of the hall, which is the real stage of the theater. At the back of the pit, some benches form steps, and underneath the steps is a staircase which leads to the upper seats. There is an improvised buffet containing candles, vases, glasses, plates of tarts, cakes, bottles, etc.

The entrance to the theater is in the center of the background, under the gallery of the boxes. A large door is half-open to let in the spectators. On the panels of this door, in different corners, and over the buffet, are red placards bearing the words, “La Clorise.”

At the rising of the curtain, the hall is in semi-darkness, and still empty. The candle-holders are lowered in the middle of the pit, ready to be lighted.

• [French] Hotel Burgundy; a theater built on the site where the Dukes of Burgundy had lived during the 14^th and 15^th centuries. The fact that the opening scene occurs in a theater highlights the importance of the theater in 17^th century France. Notice how nearly all members of society are represented at the theater—from pickpockets to aristocrats.
• rectangular
• an area of a theater between the orchestra and the curtain

1. Notes
2. Reading Pointers for Sharper Insights
3. Dedication
4. Dramatis Personae
5. Act I
   1. A Performance at the Hotel de Bourgogne
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
6. Act II
   1. The Poet's Eating-House
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
   12. Scene XI
7. Act III
   1. Roxane's Kiss
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
   12. Scene XI
   13. Scene XII
8. Act IV
   1. The Cadets of Gascony
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
9. Act V
   1. Cyrano's Gazette
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
10. Copyright