Théâtre de Neuve

About

The Théâtre de Neuve was a theatre in Geneva, Republic of Geneva. In 1783, the original theatre was replaced with a new stone building, the Théâtre de Neuve, designed by Pierre-David Matthey, with three tiers of boxes surrounding the orchestra seats and an audience capacity of 1000. Nevertheless, Its stage was cramped, with very little room in the wings, and the orchestra pit could not seat more than 30 musicians.

At the eve of the French Revolution, as waves of political unrest rocked Geneva, the new theatre's function was still to entertain foreign officers sent as reinforcements and seats were primarily reserved for sponsors and shareholders. As such, most of the Geneva population could not attend performances. The Théâtre de Neuve was destined to stand in place for less than a hundred years.

Revolutionary troubles forced the theatre to close several times and it was used consecutively as a revolutionary club and a cotton mill. In October 1797, the theatre was definitely closed to any kind of performance, by decision of the authorities. It remained closed until the French annexed Geneva in April 1798.

During this fifteen-year occupation, the theatre hosted several companies of French...