Astounding deadly performances at the Parisian theater "Grand-Guignol"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Theater "Grand Guignol" (Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol) in Paris was the place where playwrights put on horrific performances of violence and revenge within the walls of a former chapel. During the 65 years of the Grand Guignol's work, more than a thousand performances were presented, which shocked and delighted the audience. This theater has remained in history as one of the popularizers of the horror genre for entertainment.

The name "Grand Guignol" is closely associated with the shocking bloody performances, being the quintessence of theatrical horror, although the original mission of the theater was completely different. Grand-Guignol was founded in 1895 by the French playwright Oscar Méténier. He bought an old chapel at the end of a back alley in Montmartre and converted it into a theater, leaving the Gothic religious decorations intact. Wooden angels hung from the ceiling and towered over the orchestra. Lattice confession boxes have been transformed into private booths, and wooden benches have moved to the balcony. At only 293 seats, the theater was the smallest in Paris, but its intimidating Gothic design made it one of a kind, not to mention extraordinary productions.

Metenier opened the Grand Guignol as a "naturalistic" theater. Naturalism was a popular trend in 19th century European drama, in which traditional subjects took place in realistic conditions of everyday life. However, Methenier's views on naturalism tended more towards the "low" side of life. Many of his plays portrayed fallen women, criminals, and street boys - characters that the viewer frowned upon. One of the plays about a prostitute, Mademoiselle Fifi, was even temporarily banned by the police. Although Metenier's plays were controversial in their depictions of the lower strata of society, they were far removed from the dark and immoral plots that soon came to the walls of Grand Guignol.

In 1897 the theater was taken over by Max Maurey, who took the Grand Guignol towards the horror genre. Under Maury's direction, the theater has staged a variety of plays, from comedies to dramas. And when the theatrical season was over, they began to stage works like Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. They dealt with social and political topics, as well as violent stories of murder, revenge, hallucinations and violence.

In 1901, new plays were staged by André de Lorde. These were eerie pieces. De Lorde wrote stories about a nanny killing children, about an insane doctor who lobotomized for revenge, about a jealous woman who gouged out the eyes of a more beautiful rival with scissors.

During his stay at Grand Guignol, de Lordes wrote 150 plays that marked the most iconic era in the life of the theater. A quiet librarian by day, de Lordet was nicknamed "The Prince of Violence" for his scripts at night.

In the 1910s. increases the realism of the performances. The plays about sex and violence were shocking in themselves, but the Grand Guignol was even more horror-stricken with special effects. Blood gushed from the wounds, and the bodies were cut into pieces. Combined with the theatrical lighting and voice acting, the experience was so shocking that it sometimes caused panic. Spectators called doctors or the police right during the performances. Once, in a scene with a blood transfusion, 15 people fainted at once.

The theater's popularity continued to grow, reaching its peak between the two world wars. The theater has become a tourist attraction and a real hit. As in many horror stories, in the performances of "Grand Guignol" women were most often the victims. At this time, its main actress was the actress Paula Maxa (Paula Maxa). She has earned the dubious title of "World's Most Murdered Woman". During her career from 1917 to the 1930s. she was "deprived of life" more than 10,000 times. She was stabbed, shot, strangled, poisoned, and even eaten by a cougar. It is worrying that she has been sexually assaulted on stage 3,000 times.

An article in TIME magazine describes an eerie scene in one of the productions: “Another victim was gagged, tied up and beaten. Then the tips of her breasts were cut off with garden shears, and her eyes were taken out with a tablespoon and knife."

But all accompanied by nausea and sadistic entertainment could not continue indefinitely. When the Second World War began, the theater lost its former popularity. But even after the war, famous guests visited him, including Ho Chi Minh and the King of Romania, who even had a room in the backstage of the theater, where he slept with his mistress. In 1962, the famous theater was closed. Its director stated that “we can never compare with Buchenwald. Before the war, everyone believed that what was happening on stage was impossible in real life. But now we know that these things, and even worse, are possible."

The Teatro Grand-Guignol saw many terrible scenes, but these were all productions, unlike 15 weird and creepy photos from the past, from which blood runs cold.