«Un apoyo que no hay que desdeñar»

In the 17th century, French stage directions seem less numerous and more succinct than Spanish stage directions. This article provides an overview of the development of stage directions in French theatre from the 16th to the 17th century. The analysis of several revealing cases shows the diversity of French stage directions and highlights their intricate issues. The division between scripts for performance and texts for reading progressively gives way to a polyvalent dramatic text. The stage directions meet then the expectations of the actors as well as those of the readers and are quite often under the control of the dramatic poet, which enjoys a certain authority.