Histoire de putains

A History of Whores: ancient whores, poet whores, musician whores.
For this session of the lecture series "What Fucking History of Theatre Are We Talking About?", Marthe Garzón, a doctoral student in Greek theatre, proposes a simple answer to the question: let's talk about the history of the theatre of whores. But which whores? Those who combined performance arts with the arts of eroticism or pornography. Those who were not celebrated with laurels and whom history has not canonized. Above all, those for whom we have sources—vase paintings, graffiti, epigraphic inscriptions, and excerpts from works: prose texts (philosophical, political, or theoretical) and verse texts (lyric or elegiac poetry, Old or New Comedy). We will not be talking about just any whores, but the few whose art and work have not been forgotten.

Through this history of whores, Marthe Garzón proposes to move away from the myth of Greek Tragedy—the myth that Western theatre found its "original origin" in the 5th century BCE in the Theatre of Dionysus. Instead, she approaches the shores of brothels, private spaces, and festive banquets where sexual services were not the only pleasures for sale.

What Fucking History of Theatre Are We Talking About?*

Throughout the season, this series of 8 encounters will bring together artists, historians, and performing arts researchers. These meetings will question the history of theatre, explore its margins, and shed light on its lesser-known areas.

An opportunity to (re)discover certain forgotten or under-studied aspects, but also to reflect collectively on how such a history is constructed.

- #1: 20th Century Matrimonies, Monday, September 29, 2025, at 6:00 PM
- #2: Theatre in Iran: the Shiraz Arts Festival, Monday, October 13, 2025, at 6:00 PM
- #3: Berlin in the 90s – The Volksbühne and the "Patchwork of Minorities", Monday, November 17, 2025, at 6:00 PM
- #4: Performance, Feminism, and Sensitivity: The Vibrancy of Carolee Schneemann's Kinetic Theatre, Monday, January 26, 2026, at 6:00 PM
- #5: When the Stage Resonates with the Violence of the Present: Theatre in France During the Wars of Religion, Monday, February 16, 2026, at 6:00 PM

*quote by Angélica Liddell