The Theatre-Francais had been regularly organized by royal edict on October 21, 1680, when the troupe of the Hotel de Bourgogne and that of the Theatre Guenegaud were united,[54] although its origin is much more ancient, going back as far as 1548, when the theatre of the Hotel de Bourgogne was opened by the Confreres de la Passion.  In 1720 it occupied the Theatre de la Comedie-Francaise, on the rue des Fosses-Saint-Germain, since become the rue de l’Ancienne-Comedie.  Its reputation, as a criterion of dramatic art, was already established, and this reputation has ever since been sustained.

In 1576[55] Henry III called from Venice a troupe of Italian actors, the Gelosi, and, from the time of their installation at Paris, in 1577, until 1697, when they were expelled from France by Louis XIV, for their temerity in ridiculing Mme. de Maintenon in la Fausse Prude, Paris had seen an almost uninterrupted succession of troupes of these Italian actors.  Up to this time almost unlimited license in language and themes had been tolerated in them.  The plays had been mostly in Italian, but, some time before their banishment, French had also made its way into their repertory, and, in spite of many complaints to the king on the part of the members of the Comedie-Francaise, who found this prejudicial to their interests, the French had held its ground, not, however, to the exclusion of the Italian, until after the time of their recall.

Their exile lasted nineteen years, or until 1716, when they were recalled by the Regent.  A new troupe was organized under the direction of Louis Riccoboni, a famous actor, and author, among other works, of a valuable history of the Theatre-Italien.  Riccoboni took the young lovers’ parts and the name of Lelio.  The rest of the cast[56] was as follows:  Joseph Baletti, called Mario, second lover; Thomasso Vicentini, called Thomassin, who took the roles of Harlequin; Alborghetti, as Pantalon; Matterazzi, the doctor; Bissoni, as Scapin; and Giacoppo, as Scaramouche;[57] with Helene Baletti, sister of Joseph Baletti and wife of Louis Riccoboni, who, under the name of Flaminia, for thirty-six years was to take the roles of premiere amoureuse, of soubrette, and the travestis; Silvia, who later married Joseph Baletti, and performed for forty-two years the roles of second amoureuse; and Violette, the charming soubrette, with one or two others of less consequence.[58] The characters are those of the old commedia dell’arte.  However, written plays had now begun to take the place of the improvisation of the earlier Italian comedy.

Not long after the reestablishment of the Theatre-Italien at Paris, and, in fact, as early as the first of June of that same year, we find them housed in the Hotel de Bourgogne, rue Mauconseil, over the principal door of which, after the death of the Regent in 1723, was engraved the following inscription:  Hotel des comediens italiens ordinaires du Roi, entretenus par Sa Majeste, retablis a Paris en 1716.  In 1762 it lost its individuality, and became merged into the Opera-Comique, but that was some years after the last play of Marivaux had been staged, and does not concern us here.