Promotional poster for a Grand Guignol performance

The Grand Guignol (pronounced [gʁɑ̃ giɲɔl]) was a theatre (Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol) in the Pigalle area of Paris (at 20 bis, rue Chaptal), which, from its opening in 1897 to its closing in 1962, specialized in naturalistic horror shows. The name is often used as a general term for graphic, amoral horror entertainment. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Grand Guignol may be: The former Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol of Paris, which specialized in grisly horror shows. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Pigalle is the name of an area in Paris, France around Place Pigalle (a plaza) on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements, named after the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785). ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

Theatre

Oscar Méténier

Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol was founded in 1894 by Oscar Méténier, who planned it as a space for naturalist performance. With 293 seats, the theater was the smallest in Paris.^[1] The building was a former chapel, and the theatre's history showed in the boxes, which looked like confessionals, and in the angels over the orchestra. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

The theater owed its name to Guignol, a traditional Lyonnaise puppet character, joining political commentary with the style of Punch and Judy. ^[2] Guignol is a French puppet show for children. ... Lyons), see Lyons (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Punch and Judy (disambiguation). ...

The theatre's peak was between World War I and World War II when it was frequented by royalty and celebrities in evening dress.^[3] “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Important people

Oscar Metenier was the theatre's founder and original director. Under his direction, the theatre produced plays about a class of people who were not considered appropriate subjects in other venues: prostitutes, criminals, street urchins, and others of Paris's lowest class. This article is about the capital of France. ...

Max Maurey served as director from 1898 to 1914. Maurey shifted the theatre's emphasis to the horror plays it would become famous for and judged the success of a performance by the number of patrons who fainted; the average was two patrons fainting per evening. Maurey discovered André de Lorde, who was to be the most important playwright for the theatre. Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... André de Lorde, (1871-1933 (?)) born in France, the son of a nobleman whose title was more impressive than his fortune, was the chief author of the Grand Guignol plays. ...

André de Lorde was the theatre's principal playwright from 1901 to 1926. He wrote at least one hundred plays for the Grand Guignol and collaborated with experimental psychologist Alfred Binet to create plays about insanity, one of the theatre's most frequently recurring themes. André de Lorde, (1871-1933 (?)) born in France, the son of a nobleman whose title was more impressive than his fortune, was the chief author of the Grand Guignol plays. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alfred Binet Alfred Binet (July 8, 1857 – October 18, 1911), French psychologist and inventor of the first usable intelligence test, the basis of todays IQ test. ...

Camille Choisy served as director from 1914 to 1930. He contributed his expertise in special effects and scenery to the theatre's distinctive style. Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Paula Maxa was one of the Grand Guignol's best-known performers. From 1917 to the 1930s, she performed most frequently as a victim and was known as "the most assassinated woman in the world." During her career at the Grand Guignol, Maxa was murdered more than 10,000 times in at least sixty different ways and was raped at least 3,000 times.^[3] 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ...

Jack Jouvin served as director from 1930 to 1937. He made a shift in the theatre's subject matter, focusing the performances not on gory horror but psychological drama. Under his leadership, the theatre's popularity waned, and after World War II, it was not well-attended.^[2] Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Charles Nonon was the theatre's last director.^[4]

Plays

At the Grand Guignol, patrons would see five or six plays, all in a style which attempted to be brutally true to the theatre's naturalistic ideals. The plays were in a variety of styles, but the most popular and best-known were the horror plays, featuring a distinctly bleak worldview as well as particularly gory special effects in their notoriously bloody climaxes. These plays often explored the altered states, like insanity, hypnosis, panic, under which uncontrolled horror could happen. Some of the horror came from the nature of the crimes shown, which often had very little reason behind them and in which the evildoers were rarely punished or defeated. To heighten the effect, the horror plays were often alternated with comedies.^[5][6] Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. ...

Le Laboratoire des Hallucinations, by André de Lorde: A doctor finds his wife's lover in his operating room, he performs a graphic brain surgery. His insane patient hammers a chisel into the doctor's brain.^[6] André de Lorde, (1871-1933 (?)) born in France, the son of a nobleman whose title was more impressive than his fortune, was the chief author of the Grand Guignol plays. ...

Un Crime dans une Maison de Fous, by André de Lorde: Two inmates of an insane asylum use scissors to blind a young, pretty fellow inmate.^[6] André de Lorde, (1871-1933 (?)) born in France, the son of a nobleman whose title was more impressive than his fortune, was the chief author of the Grand Guignol plays. ...

L'Horrible Passion, by André de Lorde: A nanny strangles the children in her care.^[6] André de Lorde, (1871-1933 (?)) born in France, the son of a nobleman whose title was more impressive than his fortune, was the chief author of the Grand Guignol plays. ...

Theatre closing

The Grand Guignol theatre closed its doors in 1962. "We could never equal Buchenwald," said its final director, Charles Nonon, on the theatre's decline and fall. "Before the war, everyone felt that what was happening onstage was impossible. Now we know that these things, and worse, are possible in reality."^[4] Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gate with the words Jedem das Seine (literally, “to each his own”, but figuratively “everyone gets what he deserves”) Buchenwald concentration camp was a Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg (Etter Mountain) near Weimar, Thuringia, Germany, in July 1937, and one of the largest such camps on German soil. ...

Legacy

Grand Guignol flourished briefly in London in the early 1920s under the direction of Jose Levy. Since 1991, a San Francisco theatre, Thrillpeddlers, has been performing English translations of plays originally shown at the Grand Guignol.^[7] Jose Levy. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

The 1963 mondo film ECCO includes a scene which may have been filmed at the Grand Guignol theatre during its final years.^[8] Naked City's 1992 album Grand Guignol is named after; in reference to the, legendary theatre. All Music Guide referred to Bat out of Hell as "Grand Guignol pop."^[9] Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mondo film is a documentary film, more precisely a pseudo-documentary, usually depicting sensational topics and scenes. ... This article is about the band. ... Grand Guignol is the third album released by Naked City. ... This article describes the album by Meat Loaf. ...

Books

• Gordon, Mel. The Grand Guignol: Theatre of Fear and Terror. Da Capo Press, 1997.
• Hand, Richard, and Michael Wilson. Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror. University of Exeter Press, 2002.

Footnotes

(Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Grand Guignol Online - Grand Guignol history, plays, posters, video, articles, and forums (in English).
• NewPlays.org.uk - A brief history of Grand Guignol.
• Works by Oscar Méténier at Project Gutenberg