La Comédie Italienne

The facade of La Comédie Italienne bears a bright, unmistakable mask of Arlecchino, painted in bold colors against the white wall. This theater occupies a narrow space on the Rue de la Gaîté. It opened in nineteen eighty to exclusively stage Italian plays, a mission driven by the actor Attilio Maggiulli. He turned the venue into a corner of Italy in Paris, keeping the traditions of the commedia dell'arte alive for decades, until financial pressures eventually forced the theater to close its doors.