Féerie was a French theatrical genre known for
fantasy plots and spectacular visuals, including lavish scenery and mechanically worked stage effects.
Féeries blended music, dancing, pantomime, and acrobatics, as well as magical transformations created by designers and stage technicians, to tell stories with clearly defined
melodrama-like
morality and an extensive use of
supernatural elements. The genre developed in the early 1800s and became immensely popular in France throughout the nineteenth century, influencing the development of
burlesque,
musical comedy and
film.