This article is an overview of the theatre of France. Historic overview Secular French theatre Discussions about the origins of non-religious theatre ("théâtre profane") -- both drama and farce—in the Middle Ages remain controversial, but the idea of a continuous popular tradition stemming from Latin comedy and tragedy to the 9th century seems unlikely. Most historians place the origin of medieval drama in the church's liturgical dialogues and "tropes". At first simply dramatizations of the ritual, particularly in those rituals connected with Christmas and Easter (see Mystery play), plays were eventually transferred from the monastery church to the chapter house or refectory hall and finally to the open air, and the vernacular was substituted for Latin. In the 12th century one finds the earliest extant passages in French appearing as refrains inserted into liturgical dramas in Latin, such as a Saint Nicholas (patron saint of the student clercs) play and a Saint Stephen play. Dramatic plays in French from the 12th and 13th centuries: Le Jeu d'Adam (1150–1160) - written in octosyllabic rhymed couplets with Latin stage directions (implying that it was written by Latin-speaking clerics for a lay public) Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas - Jean Bodel - written in octosyllabic rhymed couplets Le Miracle de Théophile - Rutebeuf (c.1265) The origins of farce and comic theatre remain equally controversial; some −literary historians believe in a non-liturgical origin (among "jongleurs" or in pagan and folk festivals), others see the influence of liturgical drama (some of the dramas listed above include farcical sequences) and monastic readings of Plautus and Latin comic theatre. Non-dramatic plays from the 12th and 13th centuries: Le Dit de l'herberie - Rutebeuf Courtois d'Arras (c.1228) Le Jeu de la feuillé (1275) - Adam de la Halle Le Jeu de Robin et Marion (a pastourelle) (1288) - Adam de la Halle Le Jeu du Pèlerin (1288) Le Garçon et l'aveugle (1266–1282) - earliest surviving French farce Aucassin et Nicolette (a chantefable) - a mixture of prose and lyrical passages Select list of plays from the 14th and 15th centuries: La Farce de maître Trubert et d'Antrongnard - Eustache Deschamps Le Dit des quatre offices de l'ostel du roy - Eustache Deschamps Miracles de Notre Dame Bien Avisé et mal avisé (morality) (1439) La Farce de maître Pierre Pathelin (1464–1469) - this play had a great influence on Rabelais in the 16th century Le Franc archer de Bagnolet