The poissard genre developed in the theatre in the middle of the 18th century. It staged quarrels between characters, using a popular language attributed to fishmongers of the Parisian Halles: curses, obscenities, threats, lexical errors, words mistaken for others, … Jean-Joseph Vadé (1720-1757) is usually said to be the inventor of the genre, but he wrote his first plays of this style in 1750. This play by Denis Carolet, performed in 1737, proves that the poissard form of comedy appeared earlier.

The manuscript of L’Assemblée des poissardes (The Meeting of the fishwives) is kept in the Soleinne collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (French national library, Ms fr. 9315). The play provides invaluable information about the shows staged at the Foire Saint-Germain: it describes how Carolet’s Polichinelle Persée was staged, as well as images projected with a magic lantern and those shown in the “curiosité”, which, at the time, was starting to take the meaning of optical boxes also called mundi novi – in the previous century, “curiosité” had referred to a mechanical altarpiece.

The maître d’hôtel Rapinet (Polichenelle) offers to take Madame Flanchet and her daughter Margot, whom he wants to marry, to the fair. But Rudepogne reminds them that Margot is promised to his nephew Jacquot. He sends Jacquot, who threatens Rapinet and quarrels with Margot. Since it is already too late to go to the fair, Rapinet asks two Savoyards to perform curiosité shows for them. At the end of the play, the characters dance with “small Savoyard women”.