Three French comedies of love and marriage. Charles Favart contributes two comic operas of considerable verve and humor. In THE DISGUISED LOVER, Julie pretends to be a man, and Clitandre pretends to be a peasant. But its all in good fun, and while the play doesnt take itself seriously, alls well that ends well. RUSTIC AMOURS is a strange but effective blend of classical opera themes (shepherds and shepherdesses in love), combined with satire about Parisian fops and uncouth peasants--all of whom love the same beautiful shepherdess. Philippe Destouches TRIPLE MARRIAGE is a...

THE LUCKY MAN is the story of a handsome, conceited young man who's the devil with the ladies. Cadwell flits from one woman to another, always in search of more adventures, always deceitful, never getting caught, always promising his love--and never giving anyone what he doesn't possess himself. This ultimate womanizer goes about blithely wrecking the lives of women (and their beaus) alike, until--until a cadre of his rejected "lovers" get together to trap him through his own ego. And even then...even then there are those who are willing to forgive him Cadwell and his "loves" are perfectly...

Set in Roman times, Voltaire's play THE TRIUMVIRATE details a meeting on an island between Anthony and Octavian, in which the two main players in the post-Caesar Roman world decide how to divide up the spoils of war--and eliminate all potential rivals. Anthony agrees to divorce his wife Fulvia and marry Octavian's sister; and Octavian wants to marry Julia, Lucius's daughter, who loves Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great. When a storm lands Julia and Pompey Junior on the island, Fulvia agrees to help the star-crossed lovers--if they will aid her in gaining her revenge on Anthony and...

Three delightful French plays about different aspects of Love. ZENEIDA, by Louis de Cahusac, is a fairy tale about love being blind--but says that true love can happen anyway, regardless of looks. It's a story filled with charm and grace. THE FOLLIES OF LOVE, by Jean-Francois de Regnard, demonstrates how far love will go to have its way. The heroine, who's being oppressed by her aged tutor, Albert, goes to emotional extremes, feigning madness, to escape his unwanted affections. THE CAT WHO TURNED INTO A WOMAN, by Eugene Scribe, is a light-hearted comedy about a young man who falls in love...

Here are three French plays from the Enlightenment Period dealing with the subject of slavery. ISLE OF SLAVES, by Pierre de Marivaux, is the longest and most challenging of the three. It postulates an island in the ancient Greek world where the slaves have revolted and seized power, killing all of their former masters and declaring their independence. Now, any "masters" shipwrecked on their island are forced to live as slaves of their own slaves to impress upon them the wrongs they've committed. THE MERCHANT OF SMYRNA, by Nicolas Chamfort, and THE BEAUTIFUL SLAVE, by Antoine-Jean Dumaniant,...

The novelist Robert Hichens was known for his absurd renderings of British high society, as portrayed in THE PROPHET OF BERKELEY SQUARE, a satire of the fad for astrology, which Frank J. Morlock has previously adapted to dramatic form. Now, in this pair of new plays, Morlock takes two more stories by Hichens and converts them into modern renderings. THE LONDONERS effectively satirizes turn-of-the-century English society for its snobbishness and for its absurd traditions (the races at Ascot serve as the author's prime example), with a cast of cross-dressing, zany characters, salted with a few...

Well-known French writer Theophile Gautier and Bernard Lopez combine their talents in this send-up of the cloak-and-sword dramas so popular with the Romantics. When the Spanish Queen's horse runs away with her, two unknown caballeros rescue Elizabeth from certain death--despite the fact that Spanish law prohibits anyone but the King and her closest attendants from touching her. But the Queen is not ungrateful, and Dona Beatrix, a Lady-in-Waiting, promises to marry the unknown savior, sight unseen, if the Queen can somehow save her rescuer from the capital punishment demanded by statute. A...

Three French libretti on classical themes. In CASTOR AND POLLUX, by Pierre Bernard, one of the twins from ancient myth attempts to rescue his brother from the underworld. PENELOPE, by Jean-Francois Marmontel, tells the story of Ulysses' return to Ithaca after his long journey home from Troy, and how he takes revenge on the boorish suitors of his wife, Penelope, who have browbeaten her for years. Emile Augier presents the story of SAPPHO, another tragedy set in classical times, full of betrayal and self-sacrifice. Ancient Greek drama had much in common with modern opera, emphasizing story...

Two operas with classical themes. SALAMMBO by Camille du Locle is based on Gustave Flaubert's well-known novel of the same name. The story is set in Carthage after the First Punic War, when mercenaries hired by the state revolt for lack of payment. The leader of the insurrectionists, Matho, falls in love with Salammbo, daughter of General Hamilcar--and this obsession leads ultimately to his destruction. DIDO, by Jean-Francois Marmontel, is one of the best modern dramatizations of the great love story recounted by Virgil in his epic poem, The Aeneid. The Trojan prince Aeneas, who has sought...

Although French author George Sand is still widely read as a novelist and feminist, her theatrical works have fallen into undeserved oblivion. THE NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS is adapted from a tale by the well-known German horror writer, E. T. A. Hoffmann. Sand pits the rigid rationalist Max against his friend Peregrinus Tyss, who believes in a world where sentiment plays a role. Peregrinus loves the young woman, Nanni, but knows he has no chance to win her hand. Then on Christmas Eve, the ghost of his old master returns, and teaches Max--and Peregrinus--some basic lessons about the possibilities of...