Rue de la Gaîté – the street of theatres, Paris

Rue de la Gaîté, and its side-streets, such as the Rue LaRochelle, is an historic theatre area of the 14^th arrondissement of Paris. In the Montparnasse district, the establishment of small theatres commenced in the early 1880s when it was just outside the Paris zone and therefore bars, restaurants, and entertainment precincts were not subject to tax. The Montparnasse district was incorporated into Paris in 1863 and Rue de la Gaîté was listed as a heritage street.

Rue de la Gaîté, or Gaiety Street, received its name from the entertainment and nightlife there, in contrast to the nearby Montparnasse Cemetry established in 1824.

The main theatres today, along Rue de la Gaîté, include Bobino, the Theatre Montparnasse (1886), La Comedie Italienne theatre, Theatre Rive Gauche, and Theatre de La Gaîté Montparnasse.

The Theatre du Luxembourg was created in 1816 nearby to house Bobino’s fairground staff, and closed in 1868. Les Folies Bobino music hall was established in Rue de la Gaîté in 1873 and demolished in 1985 (now the Mercure Hotel), and a new Studio Bobino was established at the back of the Mercure.

Theatre de La Gaîté Montparnasse was established in 1868. Henri LaRochelle established the Theatre Montparnasse on the corner of Rue de la Gaîté and Rue LaRochelle in 1886, and La Comedie Italienne theatre has been on the street since 1980 after re-locating from its 1974 location at 15 Rue du Maine. Theatre Rive Gauche was established in 1994.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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