The Pope’s New Clothes: Jean Vilar’s Lay Religion and Popular Theatre

Abstract

It is no accident that the return of questions concerning popular theatre coincided with debates triggered by the celebrations of 250 years of public theatre in Poland. Ought the public theatre of today model itself on the tradition of the  Comédie-Française – or should it look up to the idea of the théâtre populaire instead? Who should this type of theatre serve: artists or audiences? Should it be overtly political and cause controversy, or should its foremost task be the formation of a broad community? The fortunes of French popular theatre refer us back to its quasi-religious aims – which,  however, were being born in an increasingly secular society, as if theatre was to become the universal religion of the new republic. In analysing the actions of Jean Vilar, and the conceptions he proposed, we may argue that he regarded popular theatre not just as an 'audience's theatre', but also 'a theatre of the state'. The festival in Avignon and the Théâtre National Populaire performances were, in a way, celebrations of the values shared by those populating the republic. Despite their frequently professed political ambition, their revolutionary nature was limited.