The theater director’s office and the training of playwrights: The example of Adolphe Lemoine-Montigny

In the nineteenth century, it was not uncommon for authors, either at the start of their career or once successfully established, to seek advice when starting to write a play, especially their first, and to aim to have it performed. Adolphe Lemoine-Montigny, director of the Théâtre du Gymnase from 1844 to 1880, had a profound impact on the history of theater in all its aspects—economic, artistic, scenic—and by providing “his” authors, whether beginners or not, with training in writing for the theater