Conférence : “8 mai 1700 : Regnard, auteur de comédies, à Vendeuvre”

Présentation

The next conference organized by ArTho and presented by François Gilet will be devoted to the visit of Jean-François Regnard, a playwright, to Vendeuvre on May 8, 1700. Regnard (1656–1709), author of novels, travelogues, and especially comedies, is a writer now largely forgotten but often presented as Molière’s successor. His life was that of a picaresque and libertine character: taken captive by Barbary pirates, he became a slave in Algeria. He did not, however, lose his taste for travel, later venturing as far as Lapland. Other travel narratives were only published after his death. This is the case with the text recounting his journey of May 1700, from Paris to Chaumont, one of the stops of which was in Vendeuvre. He and his friends stayed at the priory, at the time the residence of the parish priest… How did Regnard travel? What memories did he retain of that evening? Who was the priest then? Where did he live? What was the social and economic context of Vendeuvre? Find the answers on Thursday, June 18th at 6:30 pm at the ArTho premises (rue Georges-Guynemer, 10140 Vendeuvre-sur-Barse). In his richly illustrated lecture, François Gilet will discuss both Regnard’s background and that of Vendeuvre in May 1700.