Promotional postcard for La Fosse aux Filles (The Pit, The Girl's Pit) by Alexandre Kouprine. Based on the novel published in instalments between 1909 and 1915, the book and play centered on a brothel, owned by a woman named Anna Markovna, caused much controversy in its time. Le Th??tre du Grand-Guignol was founded in 1894 by Oscar M?t?nier, who planned it as a space for naturalist performance. With 293 seats, the venue was the smallest in Paris. The director of this play, Max Maurey shifted the theatre's emphasis to the horror plays it would become famous for and judged the success of a performance by the number of patrons who passed out from shock; the average was two faintings each evening.