I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1418 A Brand New Media Form

More than an hour later, the two playwrights carefully questioned almost every character and every plot point in the play before solemnly putting down their pens.

Joseph gave his final instructions:

"Please always remember that this play is written for ordinary ship owners and sailors, so avoid complicated sentences and overly ornate language. We must ensure that even the illiterate laborers on board can understand it."

Aidan and LeBlanc quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness, we will be very careful."

Upon hearing this, Beaumarchais pondered for a moment before asking Joseph, "Your Highness, do you intend to use this play to encourage those engaged in maritime trade to seek opportunities in the Caribbean?"

"Indeed, Mr. Beaumarchais."

The president of the playwrights' association continued, "Your Highness, if I may be so bold, those sailors simply cannot afford to see a play. You know, even in Dunkirk or Rouen, the cheapest ticket costs two francs, which is almost their weekly living expenses."

Joseph nodded slightly, realizing he had overlooked the issue; thankfully, the experienced playwright Beaumarchais was present.

He thought for a moment and said, "Then the Ministry of Finance will provide subsidies to reduce the ticket price to 6 su.

Beaumarchais shook his head: "I'm afraid that won't work either, Your Highness. The people in the troupe will use all sorts of tricks to cheat on subsidies. For example, if there are only 40 audience members for a performance, they will report 140. Or they may just go to a remote town and say that they performed 3 shows."

Don't ask him why he knows so much. Before he became famous, he paid a theater troupe to perform his plays in order to promote them.

The other party charged him for five performances, two of which were in Antoine. However, six months later, one of the actors in the troupe accidentally let slip that they had never actually been to Antoine.

Joseph frowned. He had initially thought of having the playwrights' association supervise the performance, but he immediately shook his head inwardly. This was a nationwide performance, involving at least eighty or a hundred theater companies, and they simply couldn't manage it all.

It seems that a dedicated department needs to be established to carry out supervision.

He immediately thought that after this theater festival, the festival committee should buy the copyrights of all the award-winning scripts and then license them to theater companies in various countries at a low price, but require them to perform at least a minimum number of shows each year, including a certain percentage of shows in French.

In other words, the festival committee undertakes, to some extent, the task of promoting France to the outside world.

Therefore, we should expand it and turn it into a permanent institution, not only organizing drama festivals, but also cooperating with the playwrights association to write scripts in accordance with the government's propaganda direction.

And also things like overseeing subsidized theater performances, and even funding pro-French writers in other countries.

Well, then the name "Festival Committee" is no longer appropriate. Let's change it to "French Literature Promotion Bureau," which sounds like a department dedicated to the arts.

As Joseph was pondering this, the editor-in-chief of the Paris Business Daily offered his advice:
"Your Highness, since the sailors look down on theater, why not print the story you just told into booklets and distribute them free of charge at all the docks?"

Upon hearing this, Beaumarchais became alarmed—this was practically stealing the Playwrights' Association's job.

He immediately retorted, "Your Excellency, you should know that even many captains are illiterate, let alone the sailors."

"They'll just take your brochure back and use it as wallpaper."

Baron Denicco retorted, "We can add illustrations; it's easy to guess the story just by looking at the illustrations."

“God, do you think this is children reading enlightenment books? Those sailors don’t have that kind of patience.”

Denico was speechless for a moment and had no choice but to lower his head and give up.

Joseph, however, seemed to realize something: "Wait, you mean illustrations?"

“Yes, Your Highness.” Joseph continued, “How much would it cost if the pamphlet were entirely illustrated?”

Seeing the Crown Prince's interest, Denico seemed to see a glimmer of hope for "victory" again: "It's probably a little more than three times the print price, Your Highness."

"Students at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture could create a fine illustration for just 4 sous. Moreover, with the popularization of lithography, the price of printing illustrations had become very low."

Joseph smiled. "Have you heard of 'comics'?"

"Ah? Forgive my ignorance, I don't know what this is."

In French, panel comics are a separate phrase, which obviously didn't exist at that time.

Joseph patiently explained to him, "It's a form that uses pictures to express the story. There are very few words, so even an illiterate person can understand it with a little effort."

Baron Denicco's thoughts raced: "You mean, something like a comic book?"

He was referring to the word "cartoon".

"Somewhat similar, but longer, capable of telling a complete story."

Joseph picked up his pen: "For example, to tell the story of 'Captain Jacques arrived at the beautiful dock, but saw patrolling British soldiers, so he quickly hid in the tavern.'"

“We’ll start by drawing the dockside scenery here, then the second drawing will show Captain Jacques gazing into the distance with a sigh. The third drawing will include British soldiers on the dock. The fourth drawing will show Captain Jacques’s panicked expression. Then he’ll see the sign for a tavern not far away…”

Everyone in the room was immediately impressed.

Denico nodded vigorously: "This is simply a stroke of genius! I swear, even my five-year-old grandson could understand what it means."

Beaumarchais exclaimed in astonishment, "This is simply a drama performed through painting!"

Aidan then cautiously inquired, "Your Highness, does the script still need to be written?"

“Of course,” Joseph nodded. “We’ll do both the plays and the storyboard comics. One for wealthy merchants and ship owners, and the other for sailors at a low price.”

"Furthermore, storyboard comics also require a script to be drawn. So, between you and Mr. LeBlanc, who would like to study how to write a comic book script?"

The two playwrights looked at each other, and Aidan said, "I'm willing to try, Your Highness."

“Very good. I believe you will be remembered by everyone as the ‘writer of the first part of the Mirror comics’.”

Joseph then looked at Denico: "Please find a few talented students from the Academy of Painting and Sculpture to assist Mr. Edan."

"Yes, Your Highness."

More than ten days later, all the plays in the first European Theatre Festival were performed.

Parisians and a large number of foreign tourists enjoyed an unprecedented theatrical carnival.

In particular, the two final plays on the last day were performed twice more overnight due to popular demand.

(End of this chapter)