page_title: Theatre of Jersey
section_title: Theatre in Jèrriais
hierarchical_section_title: Theatre of Jersey / Theatre in Jèrriais
caption_attribution_description: Advertisement for theatrical play performance 17 January 1935 by Jèrriais acting troupe L's Enfuntchis. Advertisement from newspaper Les Chroniques de Jersey January 1935
context_page_description: The history of theatrical performances in Jersey can be traced back to the 18th century. The Opera House, opened by Lillie Langtry in 1900, and the Jersey Arts Centre are the main performance spaces, although performances also take place in parish halls and other venues.
context_section_description: The development of Jèrriais literature has included theatre in Jèrriais (the Norman dialect spoken in Jersey). The first book published in Jèrriais Rimes et Poësies Jersiaises (1865) included dramatic duologues, which may have been performed at traditional veil'yes (social neighbourhood gatherings) or read as closet dramas. Satirical playlets were also published in newspapers in the 19th century. Élection de St. Martin, a playlet in Jèrriais and French published in the newspaper Le Constitutionnel on 24 November 1838, was probably never staged, but rather read in company.
  Henri Luce Manuel's Queur de Femme (in modern spelling: Tchoeu d'Femme – "heart of a woman") of 1861 was published in pamphlet form. Esther Le Hardy's three-act play L'Enchorchelai, ou les très Paires (in modern spelling: L'Enchorchélé, ou les Trais Paithes – "The Bewitched, or the Three Pears") was published in 1880. Both plays are in rhyming couplets.
  In the early 20th century, E. J. Luce wrote plays and presented them around parish halls and other halls. En chèrche d'femme, L'Învitâtion and L'Annonce X Y Z were all written before the First World War, subsequent to the setting up of the Jersey Eisteddfod. The most frequently performed of his plays Lé Procès was published in pamphlet form and was revived as a touring fundraiser during the First World War, remaining a favourite long after.
  During the German military Occupation of Jersey 1940–1945, the inability of the Germans to understand Jèrriais enabled the performance of dramas that would otherwise not have passed the censor. A Jèrriais play performed at a parish hall was "as patriotic as could possibly be" but the Germans who attended the production did not understand it. 
  George F. Le Feuvre took part in amateur dramatic performances, including in works by E. J. Luce, as a young man. Later in life he wrote plays for performance by L'Assembliée d'Jèrriais and at the Jersey Eisteddfod. 8 plays and 2 duologues written by him between 1946 and 1968 were published as a collection in Histouaithes et Gens d'Jèrri (1976). Amelia Perchard (1921–2012) was one of Jersey's foremost contemporary writers, writing many one-act plays for performance at the Jersey Eisteddfod.
caption: Advertisement for a play in Jèrriais, 1935
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