At 17, Fort frequented the Left Bank hangout of the Symbolist poets, the Café Voltaire (1, Place de l'Odéon), where the discussion included contemporary theatre. His activity there would soon cause his expulsion from high school. The group aimed to break with the reigning Naturalistic scene, including the Théâtre Libre created in 1887 by André Antoine, even though Fort admired Antoine and hoped to create a new theatre that would bring together the best of all theater forms, including naturalistic drama.Robichez, Jacques. Le Symbolisme au théâtre: Lugné-Poe et les débuts de l'Oeuvre. L'Arche, 1957, p. 87 Indeed, the theater Fort founded, The Mixed Theater (Le Théâtre Mixte), which debuted on 23 June 1890, announced an eclectic program of varying styles in both new works and long forgotten plays. Combining forces with Louis Germain's Idealist Theatre (Le Théâtre Idéaliste), they presented four more plays on 5 and 12 October. These inaugural works included not only efforts by Fort and Germain but also Marc Legrand, le Sr de Chanmêlé, Charles Grandmougin, and Joseph Gayda.Robichez 486-88. The critics, however, failed to find the plays in either program artistically revolutionary. Fort and Germain parted ways, leaving Fort to rename his company The Art Theatre (Le Théâtre d'Art) and to set up an office at 155, rue Montmartre.Deak, Frantisek. Symbolist Theater: The Formation of an Avant-Garde. Johns Hopkins UP, 1993, p. 138-39.
At 17, Fort frequented the Left Bank hangout of the Symbolist poets, the Café Voltaire (1, Place de l'Odéon), where the discussion included contemporary theatre. His activity there would soon cause his expulsion from high school. The group aimed to break with the reigning Naturalistic scene, including the Théâtre Libre created in 1887 by André Antoine, even though Fort admired Antoine and hoped to create a new theatre that would bring together the best of all theater forms, including naturalistic drama.Robichez, Jacques. Le Symbolisme au théâtre: Lugné-Poe et les débuts de l'Oeuvre. L'Arche, 1957, p. 87 Indeed, the theater Fort founded, The Mixed Theater (Le Théâtre Mixte), which debuted on 23 June 1890, announced an eclectic program of varying styles in both new works and long forgotten plays. Combining forces with Louis Germain's Idealist Theatre (Le Théâtre Idéaliste) they presented four more plays on 5 and 12 October. These inaugural works included not only efforts by Fort and Germain but also Marc Legrand, le Sr de Chanmêlé, Charles Grandmougin, and Joseph Gayda.Robichez 486-88. The critics however, failed to find the plays in either program artistically revolutionary. Fort and Germain parted ways, leaving Fort to rename his company The Art Theatre (Le Théâtre d'Art) and to set up an office at 155, rue Montmartre.Deak, Frantisek. Symbolist Theater: The Formation of an Avant-Garde. Johns Hopkins UP, 1993, p 138-39.