author
Adrien Decourcelle
1824–1892
A busy and popular figure in 19th-century French theater, this writer helped shape the world of comedy-vaudeville with a long run of lively stage works. He was also known as a successful chansonnier, bringing wit and rhythm to both the theater and the songbook.
1 Audiobook
La tête de Martin: Comédie en un acte
by Eugène Grangé, Théodore Barrière, Adrien Decourcelle
About the author
Adrien Decourcelle was a 19th-century French writer and playwright best known for his work in the lively Paris theater scene. Sources agree that he died in 1892, while some library records list his birth year differently; the strongest biographical sources describe him as born on October 28, 1821, and active as a dramatist through the middle of the century.
He wrote around seventy plays, especially comedies and vaudevilles, many of them in collaboration with Théodore Barrière. His work was closely tied to the popular stage, and he was also remembered as a successful chansonnier, showing the same light touch in song that he brought to drama.
Decourcelle was part of a literary family as well. He married Caroline Lambert, a niece of Adolphe d'Ennery, and was the father of writer Pierre Decourcelle, who also became well known in French letters. His career places him squarely in the world of entertaining, fast-moving 19th-century French popular literature.