Jeffrey Berris
Theatre has always been a part of French culture whether it is lower, middle, or upper class. In the film, Monsieur Beudet, Monsieur Labas, and Madam Labas go to the theatre and Madam Beudet decides to stay home. Because we know that they are successful businessmen from prior research and hints in the film, we can assume quite a bit about their presence in the theatre. In this period after the First World War and even a little bit before, some theatre was becoming “the theatre of the working class”. However, there were different types of experiences of theatre based upon seating.
In the movie the group is seated upon a private balcony overlooking the theatre stage. Aside from their clothes and occupations and everything else that they own, we know that the upper class would sit in seats on balconies at the theatre during this time period while other classes of people would sit on the ground floors. We do not see much of the actual theatre in the movie; their seating is really the only thing so there isn’t much to work with. Although there is not much to go off of, this film can tell us that the upper class in this era of France, generally sat in private balcony seating. “The power the ruling class had over the working class in the 18th century and beyond supported the consumption of the wealthy.” This can tell us that the balcony seats during the 20s were valued higher than the floor seats and this was the reason the movie characters were seated there.
Oxford University Press, and E. C. Macknight. “A ‘theatre of rule’? Domestic service in aristocratic households under the Third Republic.” French History 22, no. 3 (1987).