In the spring of 1716 the French
Regent,
Philippe d'Orléans, asked his cousin, the
Duke of Parma, to send him a troupe of Italian actors to revive the
Comédie-Italienne in Paris, which had been disbanded nearly twenty years previous. To avoid some of the difficulties of the earlier troupe, he specified that its leader should be a man of good character and manners. Riccoboni was chosen, and in a few weeks he assembled a group of ten actors, all of whom were devout Christians. The troupe was meant to perform in the
Hôtel de Bourgogne, which had been vacant since 1697, but that theatre needed renovation, so they initially played at the
Théâtre du Palais-Royal on days when the
Opéra was not performing. Even after moving to the Bourgogne, the troupe continued to perform at the Palais-Royal on Mondays and Saturdays until the death of the Regent in 1723. As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of
Évariste Gherardi, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697. He himself wrote several plays, including ''L'Italien à Paris
and L'Italien francisé
in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine, whose scenario L'Amante difficile
was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais'' by
Jacques Autreau. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in the plays of
Marivaux. Riccoboni appeared in London in 1728–1729. == Retirement ==