After the production of Esther, Madame de Maintenon thought of cancelling all plays at Saint-Cyr, but the king demanded that they put on Racine's new play, Athalie - their production began on 5 January 1691 and took place in an atmosphere of great discretion, with no costume other than the Saint-Cyr uniforms and in the presence of nobody but the royal family, except for 22 January when they were joined by James and Mary (former king and queen of England), Fénelon and some bishops.
