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Chapter 1418: A Brand New Media Format

Over an hour later, the two playwrights had meticulously questioned them about almost every character and plot point in the play before finally putting away their pens with a solemn air.

Joseph finally instructed:

"Always remember, this play is intended for ordinary shipowners and sailors, so avoid complex sentences and overly ornate language. It must be understandable even to the illiterate laborers on board."

Aydan and Lebrun bowed quickly and replied, "Yes, Your Highness, we will be extremely careful."

Mr. Beaumarchais, who was standing nearby, heard this and fell into slight contemplation before asking Joseph, "Your Highness, are you hoping to use this play to encourage those involved in maritime trade to seek opportunities in the Caribbean Sea?"

"Indeed, Mr. Beaumarchais."

The head of the Playwrights' Guild interjected, "Your Highness, forgive my frankness, but sailors simply cannot afford to watch plays. You know, even in Dunkirk or Rouen, the cheapest theater ticket costs two francs, which is almost a week's living expenses for them."

Joseph nodded slightly, realizing he had overlooked this issue. It was fortunate that an experienced playwright like Mr. Beaumarchais was present.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Then let the Ministry of Finance provide subsidies to push the ticket price down to six sous per ticket."

Mr. Beaumarchais shook his head. "That likely won't work either, Your Highness," he said. "Those theater troupes will use all sorts of tricks to defraud subsidies. For instance, if an audience for a performance is only 40 people, they'll report 140. Or they'll just visit a remote small town and claim to have performed three shows."

Don't ask him why he knew this so well. Before he achieved fame, he had once paid a theater troupe to perform his own play to promote his script.

They charged him for five performances in total, two of which were supposedly staged in the town of Antoine. However, half a year later, one of the troupe's actors accidentally let slip that they had never even been to Antoine.

Joseph couldn't help but frown. He had initially considered having the Playwrights' Guild oversee it, but he immediately shook his head to himself. 'This would involve performances across the entire nation, and there would be at least eighty, if not a hundred, theater troupes involved. They simply wouldn't be able to manage them all.'

'It seems a dedicated department would need to be established for supervision.'

He then thought that after this European Theatre Festival, the Festival Committee should step forward to purchase the copyrights of all winning scripts and then license them at low cost to theater troupes in various countries. However, they would be required to meet a minimum number of performances each year, with a certain proportion of those performances being in French.

In other words, the Festival Committee would, to some extent, be responsible for France's external propaganda.

Therefore, it might as well be expanded and transformed into a permanent institution. It wouldn't just organize the European Theatre Festival; it could also cooperate with the Playwrights' Guild to write scripts according to government propaganda directives whenever needed.

It could also supervise the performances of subsidized theater troupes, or even fund pro-French writers in other countries.

'Hmm, the name "Festival Committee" wouldn't be appropriate then. Let's rename it the "French Literary Propaganda Bureau." It sounds like a department dedicated to the arts and literature.'

As Joseph pondered this, he heard the editor-in-chief of the Paris Business Journal suggest:

"Your Highness, since sailors can't afford plays, why not print the story you just told into pamphlets and distribute them for free at all the docks?"

Mr. Beaumarchais immediately grew anxious upon hearing this. 'This was practically stealing the Playwrights' Guild's livelihood!'

So he promptly retorted, "Baron, you should know that many ship captains are illiterate, let alone the sailors.

"Your pamphlets will only be taken back and used as wallpaper."

Baron de Nico retorted, unconvinced, "We can add illustrations. With illustrations, it would be easy to guess the story's content."

"Good heavens!" Mr. Beaumarchais exclaimed. "Do you think these are children looking at primers? Those sailors won't have the patience for that."

Baron de Nico was momentarily speechless, and could only lower his head and cease his protest.

Joseph, however, had an idea. "Wait, you mentioned illustrations?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph continued, asking, "If the entire pamphlet were made up of illustrations, what would the cost be?"

Seeing that the Crown Prince was interested, Baron de Nico seemed to glimpse a chance to 'win' the argument again. "It would be a little more than three times the cost of purely text-based printing, Your Highness.

"Students from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture can draw a refined illustration for just four sous. Moreover, with the widespread adoption of lithography, the cost of printing illustrations has become very low."

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

"Ah? Forgive my limited knowledge, but I'm not familiar with that term."

The specific concept of sequential art, or *bande dessinée* as it would later be known, did not yet exist as a distinct term in French, clearly not having emerged in this era.

Joseph patiently explained to him, "It's a form where the entire story is conveyed through pictures. There's very little text, so even illiterates can more or less understand it."

Baron de Nico's thoughts raced. "Are you referring to something akin to satirical cartoons?"

He was referring to the word for "satirical cartoons."

"A bit like that, but much longer, and capable of telling a complete story."

Joseph casually picked up a pen. "For example, to tell the story of 'Captain Jack arriving at a beautiful dock, seeing patrolling British soldiers, and quickly hiding in a tavern':

"First, we draw the dock scenery here. Then, the second panel shows Captain Jack looking into the distance with a sigh. The third panel adds British soldiers on the dock. The fourth panel shows Captain Jack's panicked expression. Next, he sees the tavern sign not far away..."

Everyone in the room had their eyes light up.

Baron de Nico nodded vigorously. "This is an absolute stroke of genius! I swear, my five-year-old grandson could understand the meaning of this!"

Mr. Beaumarchais chimed in with an astonished tone, "This is like a play performed through drawings!"

Aydan, however, cautiously inquired, "Your Highness, will the play scripts still need to be written?"

"Of course," Joseph affirmed with a nod. "Both plays and sequential art must be developed. One is for wealthy merchants and shipowners, the other will be sold cheaply to sailors.

"Furthermore, sequential art also requires a script to be drawn. So, which of you, Mr. Aydan and Mr. Lebrun, would like to research how to write scripts for sequential art?"

The two playwrights exchanged glances. Aydan said, "I am willing to try, Your Highness."

"Excellent. I believe you will be remembered by all as 'the first scriptwriter of sequential art.'"

Joseph then turned to Baron de Nico. "Please find a few talented students from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture to work with Mr. Aydan."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Over ten days later, all the plays of the inaugural European Theatre Festival had concluded.

All Parisians and a large number of foreign visitors had experienced an unprecedented theatrical extravaganza together.

The two plays that closed the festival on its final day, in particular, were even given two extra performances overnight due to overwhelming public demand.