L'art de la mise en scene' by Louis Becq de Fouquiere
The birth of stage direction in France coincides both symbolically and concretely with the birth of the Theatre Libre founded by Andre Antoine in 1887. It was for the first time that one person assumed the administrative as well as artistic responsibilities. However, three years earlier, in 1884, 'L'art de la mise en scene', subtitled 'An Essay on Theatre Aesthetics', was published. Written by Louis Becq de Fouquiere, this early essay about direction was long to be the only one recognizing direction as an art and looking at it from the aesthetic point of view, the first French theoretical work devoted to direction and the first to introduce the notion of 'theatre aesthetics'.