concept
jeune premier
French theatrical term for the stock role of the young romantic leading man, the line of parts played by the actor Popov in the troupe.
Reading notes
- An Actor's Doom §18 jeune-premier
French theatrical term (literally "young leading man") for the stock role of the romantic juvenile lead, another fixed type in the provincial troupe's casting system alongside the noble father, the comic, and the tragedian.
- The Wallet §15 jeune premier
French theatrical term (here glossed by Chekhov himself as Latin) for the stock role of the young romantic leading man -- Popov's line of parts in the troupe.
- The Leading Man §1 jeune premier
French theatrical stock-role term for the young romantic leading man -- the line of parts an actor like Podzharov specializes in, and (per the story's own translator's footnote) rendered literally as "first lover." The story's Russian title, "Первый любовник," is this same term calqued into Russian; the English title "The Leading Man" trades the pun for clarity, since a literal "The First Lover" would misleadingly suggest the boasted love affair itself rather than the actor's stage type.