In 1884, Louis Becq de Fouquières wrote L’Art de la mise en scène,
a work that is considered the first organic reflection on directing. In the text,
which is part of a lively debate on the issues of spectacularity and scenic illusion,
Becq de Fouquières accuses Parisian theatres of masking the shortcomings of
dramatic art with lavish stagings. The author argues for the necessity of regulating staging to make it more essential and idealized, denouncing the dangers of
theatrical materiality with almost Platonic undertones. This position brings Becq
de Fouquières closer to the criticism of the excessive importance accorded to the
mise en scène and its opulent staging criteria made by Sarcey, one of the main
proponents of the debate on the issue, alongside Perrin, who, instead, praises the
stratagems of staging capable of evoking extraordinary illusions in the theatre.

Becq de Fouquières; theatrical aesthetics; staging; mise-en-scène; theatre.

DOI

10.53129/gcsi_01-2024-02