Mlle Marthe

Mlle Marthe (d. after 1783), was a French stage actress and theatre director, active in Saint-Domingue.

Marthe was originally engaged as an actress an singer at the Comédie du Cap in Cap-Francais, which was founded in 1764. The name of Mlle Marthe is associated with the foundation of theatre in Saint-Marc. That city was at the time the second largest city of Saint-Domingue, which was known for its great theatrical interest. In 1767, the first theatre play was staged in a temporary barracks hall at Saint-Marc by the actors Charron and Goulart from Comédie du Cap, and a permanent playhouse with 400 seats was built. A Monsieur Duval was originally named director for the Comédie de Saint-Marc, but Marthe bought the concession and took the position of director of the theatre herself. She managed the theatre in association with a female assistant and co-director, the actress Mlle Francheville. This business arrangement was unique,[1] but several women were to become known for their influence within the theatre world in Saint-Domingue, such as Madame Acquaire, director of the theatre of Petit-Gouave (1770s), and Madame Case, co-director with her spouse of the theatre in Les Cayes (1785).

The 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake razed the theatre to the ground during a performance of Rousseau's le Devin du Village. Marthe's sponsors immediately financed the building of a new playhouse, and in the meantime the directors continued to schedule the comedies and light operas in a large tent. The new Comédie de Saint-Marc was inaugurated in 1773, with 500 seats ninety feet in length, fifty feet in width, with two ranks of loges (it was burned by order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1802).

She performed in the operas L'Ami de la maison by Gretry (1778), La Fee Urgele by Duni (1781), Les trois Fermiers by Monvel-Dezede, and a concert at the Comédie de Port-au-Prince in 1783.

References
  1. John G. Cale, French Secular Music in Saint-Domingue (1750-1795) Viewed as a Factor in America's Musical Growth, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, 1971


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