Rachel Trépeau (fl. 1607 - fl. 1616), was a French stage actor.[1] She was one of the first French actresses known by name.[2]
She is the most well documented French actress of the early 17th-century together with the sisters Marie Vernier, Mlle La Porte, and Colombe Vernier, Mlle Montfleury, but very little is known of her.
She was a member of the Comédiens du Roi at the Hôtel de Bourgogne under her mentor Valleran le Conte between 1607 and 1612. She is noted to be a member of Gros-Guillaume theatre company in 1616.
Rachel Trépeau is the first actress named in a legal contract in the 17th-century: on December 1, 1607 she was included in an association of actors led by Valleran, “represented” by Nicolas Gasteau.[2] In 1610, she and Gasteau jointly held one-half shares in another troupe led by Valleran. Trépeau signed several legal documents between 1610 and 1612, and as she did not need the permission of a husband, which had been necessary for a wife in the law of the time period, she was evidently not married, but Nicolas Gasteau did represent her on occasion.[2]
While the roles played by the actors in Paris during this time period is generally not known, she was evidently a principal actress of the company, and the only contemporary female actor sharing in the income of the company Comediens du roi.[2]