The gods (UK English), or sometimes paradise, is a theatrical term referring to the highest areas of a theatre such as the upper balconies. These are generally the cheapest seats; the moniker may have come from the ornately painted ceilings in older venues, often based on mythological themes.[ citation needed ] Similarly those seated so high up look down upon both the performers and the occupants of more expensive seats, akin to the Greek pantheon looking down from Mount Olympus upon the lives of mortals.[ citation needed ]
There are references to the "gods" in many plays and films, among them the famous French film Les Enfants du Paradis (or Children of Paradise in its US release), described as "set in the teeming theatre district of 1840s Paris (the "boulevard du crime"), the paradise of the film's title is a reference to "the gods", the highest, cheapest seats in the theatre, occupied by the poorest of the poor. As the well-known 1930s-and-later screenwriter Jacques Prévert said when asked about the meaning of the title, "it refers to the actors ... and the audiences too, the good-natured, working-class audience". [1]
Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist movement, and include Les Enfants du Paradis (1945). He published his first book in 1946.
Theatrical constraints are various rules, either of taste or of law, that govern the production, staging, and content of stage plays in the theater. Whether imposed externally, by virtue of monopoly franchises or censorship laws, or whether imposed voluntarily by actors, directors, or producers, these restraints have taxed the creative minds of the theatre to tackle the challenges of working with and around them.
A living statue, also known as a human statue, usually refers to a performer who poses as a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup.
Léonie Marie Julie Bathiat, known professionally as Arletty, was a French actress, singer, and fashion model. As an actress she is particularly known for classics directed by Marcel Carné, including Hotel du Nord (1938), Le jour se lève (1939) and Children of Paradise (1945). She was found guilty of treason for an affair with a German officer during World War II.
Children of Paradise is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in the theatrical world of 1830s Paris, it tells the story of a courtesan and four men — a mime, an actor, a criminal and an aristocrat — who love her in entirely different ways.
Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage.
Marcel Albert Carné was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include Port of Shadows (1938), Le Jour Se Lève (1939), The Devil's Envoys (1942) and Children of Paradise (1945), the last of which has been cited as one of the greatest films of all time.
Pierre Renoir was a French stage and film actor. He was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and elder brother of the film director Jean Renoir. He is also noted for being the first actor to play Georges Simenon's character Inspector Jules Maigret in Night at the Crossroads, directed by his brother.
Bernard Werber is a French science fiction writer, active since the 1990s. He is chiefly recognized for having written the trilogy Les Fourmis, the only one of his novels to have been published in English. This series weaves together philosophy, spirituality, science fiction, thriller, science, mythology and consciousness.
Étienne Decroux was a French actor who studied at Jacques Copeau's École du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsession–corporeal mime. During his long career as a film and theatre actor, he created many pieces, using the human body as the primary means of expression.
Antoine Louis Prosper "Frédérick" Lemaître was a French actor and playwright, one of the most famous players on the celebrated Boulevard du Crime.
Pierre François Lacenaire was a French murderer and poet.
Pierre Brasseur, born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor.
Alexandre Trauner was a Hungarian film production designer.
Paradis may refer to:
The Laurier Palace Theatre fire, sometimes known as the Saddest fire or the Laurier Palace Theatre crush, occurred in a movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec on Sunday, January 9, 1927. 78 people were killed. The theatre was located at 3215 Saint Catherine Street East, just east of Dézéry St.
The Theatre de la Jeune Lune was a celebrated theater company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company, in operation from 1978 to 2008, was known for its visually rich, highly physical style of theatre, derived from clown, mime, dance and opera. The theatre's reputation also stemmed from their reinvented classics and their productions of highly ambitious original work.
Marcel Herrand was a French stage and film actor best remembered for his roles in swashbuckling or historical films.
Raymond Rognoni was a French actor and comedian. He worked in the theatre and in film, sometimes credited as Rognoni.
Yehuda (Jean-Bernard) Moraly, a theater researcher, playwright, director and actor, is a professor emeritus of Theater studies at the Hebrew University. His fields of research are mainly French theater and film. He taught theater at the Sorbonne, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Bar Ilan University and the Hebrew University (1982-2012). Moraly organized numerous symposiums and an annual Student Theater Festival at the Department of Theater Studies of the Hebrew University.