Kenneth McLeish's definitive translations of the most successful French dramatist of the Belle Epoque
Georges Feydau (1862-1921) was the most successful French dramatist of the belle epoque and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest of farce-writers. His series of dazzling hits match high-speed action and dialogue with ingenious plotting. Reaching the heights of farcical lunacy, his plays nevertheless contain touches of barbed social comment and allowed him to mention subjects which would have provoked outrage in the hands of more serious dramatists.
This volume of new,...
Kenneth McLeish's definitive translations of the most successful French dramatist of the Belle Epoque
Kenneth McLeish's definitive translations of the most successful French dramatist of the Belle Epoque
Georges Feydau (1862-1921) was the most successful French dramatist of the belle epoque and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest of farce-writers. His series of dazzling hits matched high-speed action and dialogue with ingenious plotting. Reaching the heights of farcical lunacy, his plays nevertheless contain touches of barbed social comment and allowed him to mention subjects which would have provoked outrage in the hands of more serious dramatists.
This volume...
Kenneth McLeish's definitive translations of the most successful French dramatist of the Belle Epoque
(Applause Books). Wild plots and quicksilver wit characterize the plays of Georges Feydeau. Called the greatest master of French comedy since Moliere by admirers such as Kenneth Tynan, Feydeau reflects the lusty tradition of the French bedroom farce as well as the tough exorbitant humor later to find full expression in the theater of the absurd.
(Applause Books). Wild plots and quicksilver wit characterize the plays of Georges Feydeau. Called the greatest master of French comedy since Moliere ...
Georges Feydeau Maurice Desvallieres Peter Glenville
Farce comedy
Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres, Translation by Peter Glenville
Characters: 13 male, 8 female, extras
Interior Sets
This mad French bedroom frolic finds an assortment of refined people stealing through the halls and rooms of a cheap hotel comically intent on assignations. "One of the funniest comedies since the silent movies." N.Y. Daily News. "Mr. Glenville's conception of this rumpus is riotous ... bold, reckless and funny." N.Y. Times.
Farce comedy
Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres, Translation by Peter Glenville
The action revolves around a flirt who refuses lovers so long as her husband is faithful. A wild plot to entrap her stumblingly husband in flagrante delicto becomes so frenetic that the seducers, angry husbands, spying wives, innocent maids, pubescent bellboys and police inspectors lose track of who's in bed with whom. "Sheer delight." Dallas Downtown News.
The lady has two lovers: a ne'er do well who is secretly affianced to a Baroness' daughter and a flamboyant Spanish general who challenges to a duel any man who comes near her. An amateur composer who hopes the lady will sing his song places his card in a bouquet sent anonymously and thereby seals his fate: the ne'er do well uses him to divert the general's flashing sword. Meanwhile, the ne'er do well is trapped in his skivvies outside his apartment. When the cops come to arrest him for indecent exposure, you can be sure...
Farce
Characters: 13 male, 7 female, plus extras.
Multiple sets
The lady has two lovers: a ne'er do well who is secretly affianced to a Barone...
Dr. Moulineaux has been out all night in a futile attempt to meet his mistress Suzanne. He tells his wife he has been with Bassinet who is near death, but in walks Bassinet. He decides it is no longer wise to have Suzanne pretend to be a patient and rents an apartment that formerly belonged to a dressmaker. He and Suzanne are discovered in this hide away by her husband, so the doctor poses as a dressmaker and is caught in a desperate entanglement when his wife, his mother in law, Bassinet and Bassinet's wife appear. Moulineaux's...
Farce
Characters: 4 male, 6 female
Interior Set
Dr. Moulineaux has been out all night in a futile attempt to meet his mistress Suzanne. He tel...
Georges Feydeau (1862-1921) wrote some 60 comedies, farces, and comic monologues; I Never Cheat on My Husband was one of his last productions (1914). Often considered the greatest French comic genius since Moliere, Feydeau wrote frequently about the relations between men and women in modern society. In this play, the professional artist and sexual predator, Saint Franquet, begins his pursuit of Micheline, the hitherto faithful wife of Plantaredi, in the very first act. Their off-and-on "war" between the sexes is both convincing and riotously funny, particularly when both characters begin...
Georges Feydeau (1862-1921) wrote some 60 comedies, farces, and comic monologues; I Never Cheat on My Husband was one of his last productions (1914). ...
A charming politician and his glamorous new wife evoke a picture of marital bliss. Her first husband was a liar and a cheat. Her second is a different batch of chromosomes altogether. Not only is he chairman of the Feminist Forum but he clearly adores her. He says so, repeatedly, usually on Thursday nights when he goes out to 'stretch his legs'. Her suspicions are obviously hormonal. But when he resorts to illusion to maintain the delusion, well, there's a lot of confusion. If experience has taught her anything it's the need to fight fire with fire, lies with more lies and every last trick...
A charming politician and his glamorous new wife evoke a picture of marital bliss. Her first husband was a liar and a cheat. Her second is a different...
