Dressing up: actors between private life and professional practice

Résumé 0

To create an illusion, actors had first of all to rely on their own wardrobes. Only the major theatres allowed them to draw on riches from their stores. The Revolution was to see the end, in part, of a century-long debate about the historicity and authenticity of costumes, while continuing to propose stereotypes to represent foreigners. This was briefly manifested on stage, primarily among those actors most committed to their new civic rights, the cockade, everyday dress and the image of the sans-culotte. However, their inventories after death, like those of the costume stores, prove that changes in styles of dress brought about by the revolutionary decade remained marginal on the stage. The sheer pace of events, the financial problems experienced by theatre troupes and artists, plus the preponderance of repeat performances rather than new plays, are all explanations for this phenomenon.