Grand Guignol

Grand Guignol is an adjective describing any drama, especially the horror genre, featuring the violently gruesome and gory.

Related Topics:
Adjective - Drama - Horror

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The phrase comes from the Grand Guignol Theatre in Paris, 9th Arrondissement, which specialised in such entertainment. It opened in 1897. The theatre stood at 20 bis rue Chaptal. The name originally meant "the big puppet theatre;" a guignol is a Punch and Judy show, traditional in Lyon.

Related Topics:
Paris - 1897 - Punch and Judy - Lyon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was an exceedingly small affair, especially by current standards: it seated no more than 300 people. This small capacity added an extra piquancy to the goings-on on stage, because the theatre's stock-in-trade was special effects made from the by-products of the butcher's shop. The gouged-out eye trick was a perennial favourite.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The principal playwright of the Grand Guignol was André de Lorde who wrote at least one hundred plays for the venue between the years 1901 and 1926. His plays focused on the horrific potential of household objects, the suffering of innocents, infanticide, insanity, and vengeance. The plays were typically short, and several were staged in the course of the evening. Occasional sex farces were thrown into the playlists, partly for their own sake, and partly to keep the audience guessing whether these, too, would turn out to have gory climaxes.

Related Topics:
André de Lorde - 1901 - 1926

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Original plays were also written by Pierre Bauche and Maurice Level.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Grand Guignol theatre closed its doors in 1962, unable to compete with motion pictures.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Grand Guignol theatre was recreated (on a soundstage) in 1994 for the film of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.

Related Topics:
1994 - Anne Rice - Interview with the Vampire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Grand Guignol" is also the name of a storyline in Starman, in which many of the plot points from the first sixty issues of the title were resolved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Grand Guignol" is also the name of a music album by John Zorn's avant-garde rock band Naked City.

Related Topics:
John Zorn - Naked City

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~