Theater of the Wooden Actors (Scenes from the Palais-Royal..., n°56)

The Théâtre des petits comédiens du comte de Beaujolais is the small theater that Louis-Philippe-Joseph, Duc de Chartres (the future Duc d'Orléans under the Revolution), had built in the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal enclosure, for the amusement of his young son, the comte de Beaujolais. The theater opened in 1784. The actors were wooden puppets, 3 feet high. The following year, small comic operas were performed here: children acted pantomime on stage, while they were spoken and sung for in the wings.

In 1790, during the Revolution, Mlle Montansier took possession of the theater, which then took on various names: "théâtre Montansier", "théâtre du Péristyle du Jardin-Égalité", "théâtre de la Montagne", "Variétés-Montansier" and finally simply "Variétés". But this was no longer a puppet theater: Mlle Montansier was staging comic operas.

The show represented here therefore dates from before 1790.