Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1512 - 1418: A Brand-New Form of Media

Over an hour later, the two playwrights meticulously questioned nearly every character and scene in the play before solemnly putting down their pens.

Joseph finally instructed:

“Please always remember, this play is written for ordinary shipowners and sailors, so avoid complex sentences and excessively ornate language. You must ensure even the illiterate workers on board can understand it.”

Edan and Leblanc quickly nodded and replied, “Yes, Your Highness, we will be extremely cautious.”

Bomasha, hearing this, pondered slightly and then asked Joseph, “Your Highness, do you intend to use this play to encourage those involved in maritime trade to seek opportunities in the Caribbean Sea?”

“Indeed so, Mr. Bomasha.”

The president of the Playwright Association continued, “Your Highness, if I may speak frankly, those sailors simply cannot afford to watch theater. You know, even in Dunkirk or Rouen, the cheapest theater ticket costs two francs, which is almost their weekly living expense.”

Joseph nodded slightly, realizing he had overlooked this issue, thankful that the experienced playwright Bomasha was present.

He thought for a moment and said, “Then have the Ministry of Finance provide subsidies to bring the ticket price down to 6 sous each.”

Bomasha shook his head, “That probably won’t work either, Your Highness. The theater troupe might resort to various means to defraud the subsidy. For instance, if there are only 40 people in an audience, they could report 140. Or they could claim to have performed 3 shows in some remote town when they haven’t.”

Don’t ask him why he knows this so well—before he became famous, he once paid a troupe to perform his play in order to promote it.

The troupe charged him for a total of 5 performances, two of which were supposed to be in Antoine Town. But half a year later, an actor from that troupe accidentally revealed they never actually went to Antoine.

Joseph frowned, initially thinking of having the Playwright Association supervise, but quickly shook his head. With plans for a nationwide release involving at least 80 to 100 troupes, they simply wouldn’t manage.

It seemed necessary to establish a specialized department for regulation.

He then considered, after this drama festival, having the Drama Festival Committee purchase all the winning scripts’ copyrights and then license them cheaply to troupes in various countries, requiring a minimum number of performances annually, including a certain percentage in French.

In other words, the Drama Festival Committee would partly undertake the task of promoting France abroad.

Therefore, simply expand it and change it to a permanent institution, not only organizing drama festivals but also collaborating with the Playwright Association to write scripts according to government propaganda directions whenever needed.

And oversee the performances of subsidized troupes, even funding pro-France authors in other countries.

Well, with this, the name “Drama Festival Committee” wouldn’t be suitable; rename it to the “French Literature Promotion Bureau,” sounding more like a department devoted to the literary arts.

As Joseph pondered, he heard the editor-in-chief of the Paris Commercial News suggest:

“Your Highness, since the sailors can’t afford the theater, why not print the story you just mentioned into a booklet and distribute it for free at all ports?”

Bomasha was immediately alarmed upon hearing this—this would practically snatch food from the Playwright Association’s bowl.

He immediately retorted, “Baron, you should know, even many captains are illiterate, let alone those sailors.

“Your booklet would just be taken by them and used as wallpaper.”

Baron Denico retorted, “You could add illustrations. They could easily guess the story’s content by looking at the pictures.”

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

Denico was momentarily tongue-tied, having no choice but to lower his head and retreat.

Joseph, however, thought of something: “Wait, did you say illustrations?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Joseph continued to ask, “If the booklet is entirely illustrated, how much would the cost be?”

Seeing the Crown Prince interested, Denico seemed to see hope for “victory” again: “About just over three times more than pure text printing, Your Highness.

“Students from the Royal Painting and Sculpture Academy can create a fine illustration for only 4 sous. Plus, with the spread of lithographic printing technology, the price of printing illustrations is already very low.”

Joseph smiled, “Have you ever heard of ‘comics’?”

“Ah? Forgive my ignorance, I don’t know what this is.”

The French term for storyboard comics was a standalone phrase, something that evidently had not appeared in this era.

Joseph patiently explained, “It’s a form that expresses stories entirely through drawings. With only a minimal amount of text, even the illiterate can roughly understand.”

Baron Denico’s thoughts raced, “Are you talking about something like caricatures?”

He referred to the term for ‘satirical cartoons’.

“A bit like that, but longer, able to tell a complete story.”

Joseph picked up a pen at random, “For instance, to tell the story of ‘Captain Jacques arriving at the beautiful quay, but upon seeing patrolling British soldiers, he quickly hides in a tavern’.

“We would first draw the quay’s landscape here, then in the second frame is Captain Jacques looking into the distance with a sighing posture. The third frame adds British soldiers to the quay. The fourth frame shows Captain Jacques’s panicked expression. Then he sees a tavern sign not far away…”

Everyone in the room suddenly brightened up.

Denico nodded vigorously, “This is simply a stroke of genius! I swear, even my 5-year-old grandson could understand the meaning.”

Bomasha continued in a tone of amazement, “This is practically drama interpreted through drawing!”

Edan cautiously asked, “Your Highness, should we still write the script?”

“Of course,” Joseph nodded, “we will work on both drama and storyboard comics. One for wealthy merchants and shipowners, the other sold cheaply to sailors.

“Plus, storyboard comics require a script to be made. So, which of you and Mr. Leblanc would like to study how to write comic scripts?”

The two playwrights exchanged glances, and Edan said, “I would like to try, Your Highness.”

“Very well. I trust you will be remembered by all as the ‘writer of the first storyboard comic script.'”

Joseph then looked at Denico, “Please find a few talented students from the Painting and Sculpture Academy to work with Mr. Edan.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Over ten days later, all the plays of the first European Drama Festival were performed.

All Parisians and a large number of foreign tourists experienced an unprecedented drama carnival.

Especially on the last day, the two finale plays were performed twice more at night under the strong demand of the people.