Luigi Riccoboni

 ( 17th-century Italian Male Actors ) 

As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language.Hartnoll 1983. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of Évariste Gherardi, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697.Brenner 1961, p. 4; Senelick 1995a. He himself wrote several plays, including L'Italien à Paris and L'Italien francisé in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine, whose scenario L'Amante difficile was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais by Jacques Autreau. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in the plays of Marivaux.

Riccoboni appeared in London in 1728–1729.

In retirement he wrote several books on theatre in Italian and French. His Réflexions historiques sur les théâtres de l'Europe (Paris, 1738), although incomplete, was the first comparative study of the theatres of Italy, Spain, France, England, Holland, Flanders and Germany.Anthony 2001. It was translated into English as An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe (London, 1741). Hathitrust.

He died in Paris on 6 December 1753 and was buried at Saint-Sauveur.Jal 1872, p. 1057: "Riccoboni mourut, le 6 déc. 1753, rue Françoise, et fut enterré le lendemain à St-Sauveur. L'ácte de son inhumation le dit : « Ancien officier du Roy, âgé de 78 ans, époux d'Hélène Baletti. »"