Built in the middle of the 19th century in a former disused chapel, the Châtellerault theater is at the heart of the artistic and cultural life of the city. The best troupes performed there at the end of the Belle Epoque, the great Sarah Bernhardt, born in 1844, at the same time as the hall, performed "La Dame aux Camélias" in 1910. The theater then had 600 seats.
Created on the model of "Italian-style" theaters, it has a very high horseshoe-shaped hall, where the different floors of boxes reflect the hierarchy of the society of the time. Richly redecorated in 1899 with sculptures and paintings and almost unchanged since then.
The stage cage today offers an almost unique example in France, with the theater of Marie-Antoinette in Versailles, of machinery equipped in the Italian style: uprights and under-stage carts, wooden poles and drums, wires and guinders, pulleys, decorations on frames ...
Closed in 1977, the theater has undergone, between 2011 and 2013, an impressive restoration. With its period decors and machinery, it is now a heritage site - it is one of the few European theaters that still has 19th century stage machinery, in working order, made of wood - as well as a place for artistic creation with the discreet integration of new equipment and allows for new stage performances.
The Blossac Theater is classified as a Historical Monument.
The "Pays d'Art et d'Histoire" service of the Châtellerault Urban Community offers guided tours all year round for groups, as well as discovery and themed tours (machinery, workshops, fun visits, etc.) during the school vacations and certain weekends for individuals.
On the program: discovery of the ceremonial spaces (peristyle, vestibule, foyer, Redoubt) and the original stage curtain, stroll through the auditorium and its different levels (floor, balconies, henhouse), visit of the stage cage and part of the machinery, set store...
The visit ends with the viewing of a film retracing the adventure of the restoration.
Blossac Theater
80 Blossac Blvd,
86100 Châtellerault
Phone : 05 49 21 05 47
http://www.tourisme-vienne.com/fr/activite/978/theatre-blossac
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