Lekain

Lekain

Lekain , actually Henri Louis Cain , (born April 14, 1728 or March 31, 1729 in Paris , † February 8, 1778 ibid) was a French tragic actor .

Life

Lekain was the son of a goldsmith and was supposed to learn his father's trade, for which he received an education suitable for this purpose. However, he attended the Collège Mazarin , where the students used to put on a drama at the end of the school year. Lekain, who was unable to cover the necessary costs, was only able to participate to the extent that he took over the prompter's business. He hardly needed the book for this in an emergency, the plays were so impressed on his memory after he had read and heard them a few times. These performances and the frequent visits to the theater, which he regularly enjoyed on Sundays, aroused in him an extraordinary theatrical passion, so that he wished to become an actor.

When, after the Peace of Aachen (1748), social entertainment was revived in Paris, several private theaters were formed; and Lekain allied himself with several young people to found one in St. Mery Street, which soon rose above the others and made a name for itself. At one of these private performances, the young Lekain managed to develop such an acting art in front of a connoisseur that Voltaire drew attention to the young talent. Voltaire, otherwise no friend of amateur theaters, allowed himself to be persuaded to attend one of the performances in which Lekain played. He was surprised to see the young, short man's abilities and invited him to his place after the performance. From then on he was promoted by Voltaire.

Voltaire initially advised Lekain against becoming an actor, but since Lekain was determined to do so, he took him into his house, let him play with his friends in his private theater and eagerly trained him further. He also made it possible for him to appear before the Duchess of Maine . During the six months that Lekain spent near Voltaire, his artistry made great advances and he himself says in his Mémoires (Paris 1801) edited by his eldest son that he discovered the secrets of his art during that time. On July 28, 1750, he married the young actress Christine-Charlotte-Josèphe Sirot and had two sons, Bernardin and Louis-Théodore.

Before leaving for Berlin in July 1750, Voltaire obtained permission for his protégé to appear as Titus in Voltaire's Brutus at the Comédie-Française on September 14, 1750 . Lekain received great applause, but due to the hostility of the actors, he succeeded only a year and a half after his first appearance on a power word from Louis XV. to become a member of this stage on February 24, 1752. Since then he has developed into one of the most famous and important tragedies of his time. He distinguished himself above all in the introduction of a more natural declamation and in the effort to ensure historical accuracy of the game. His contemporaries unanimously praise the profound study that he showed in all parts of his art, his masterful play of gestures and the lively receptivity of his emotions. With Claire Clairon , he campaigned for historical costumes. One of his most brilliant representations was Mahomet in Voltaire 's play of the same name , Herod in Nadal's Mariamne and Nero in Racine's Britannicus .

Most recently, Lekain played the Vendôme in Voltaire's Adélaide du Guesclin . But at that time he left the theater very hot in inclement weather, and this carelessness gave him a hot fever, of which he died in 1778 a few days later. News of his death reached Voltaire when he had just returned to Paris.

As mentioned, his eldest son published his Mémoires in 1801 (with his correspondence with Voltaire, Garrick , Colardeau and others). Talma reprinted the memoirs in Réflexions sur Lekain et sur l'art théâtral (Paris 1825; new edition 1874), the latter work in turn being part of the Collection des Mémoires sur l'Art dramatique .

Memoria

Rue Lekain in the 16th arrondissement of Paris was named after Lekain .

literature

• General German conversation lexicon for the educated of every class. Edited by an association scholar. Volume 6, Gebrüder Reichenbach, Leipzig 1840, p. 491

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rue Lekain (Paris) Official street data of the city of Paris (French)