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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 Molière, 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 getting on each other's nerves. Then Micheline discovers that her husband has been having an affair of his own, and she sets out to get her revenge. The humor is frank, edgy, and very modern. This is one of the great French comedies of the past century!

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Two opera libretti focusing on the theme of the fiery sacrifice of the protagonists. HERCULANEUM, by Joseph Méry, a friend of Alexandre Dumas, is set in 79 A.D. in the doomed city of Herculaneum. Olympia, an oriental queen, sister of the Proconsul Nicanor, falls in love with Helios, a Christian. The queen seduces Helios and takes him from his betrothed, Lilia. Nicanor then tries to seduce and rape Lilia, but is thwarted when Mount Vesuvius erupts. The Christians die happy, believing that they are saved. SARDANAPALUS, by Henri Becque, is a powerful retelling of the fall of Assyria, and the immolation of its last king in the ruins of his capital city. Two French tragedies of love and life in the classical period.

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Three French comedies revolving around marriage, misidentification, medicine–and money! <P> DOCTOR SCRATCH, by Noël le Breton, is a clever and hilarious farce, in which love becomes hopelessly entangled in the attempts by the characters to improve their declining financial situations. <P> THE SERVANT PROBLEM, by Alain-René Lesage, the well-known novelist, two criminals manage to insert themselves as valets to several young men looking to marry the daughters of wealthy families–and decide to abscond with the dowry themselves! <P> In THE FORFEITURE, by Charles Dufresny, a handsome young man is constricted in his marriage prospects by the fact that his two maiden-lady aunts control the family fortune, which can only be forfeited to him if they marry. Another valet takes charge by seducing both women in different guises. <P> Three very funny–and very modern–takes on the art and science of romancing!

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Voltaire's classic novel CANDIDE has been adapted many times through many different forms of media, but this 20th-century dramatic version is one of the best. Voltaire's story endures because the character of Candide is capable of being moved to any time or place, and still be understood–and enjoyed–by a brand new audience. In an irrational world where only diehard optimists like Dr. Pangloss can believe that everything is for the best, Voltaire's dissection of human follies rings true, even today. In the end, his best advice to the individual trying to cope with the joys and sorrows of everyday life is just to…"Cultivate your garden!"

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Adapted by Alexandre Dumas from a script by Auguste Maquet, BATHILDA tells the story of a woman who's raped by Marcel, and becomes his lover for a time. After she leaves him and moves to Paris, she meets Deworde, her deceased spouse's nephew, and plans to marry him. But Marcel pursues her, determined that if he can't have her, no one else will either. He plays a cat-and-mouse game with Bathilda, Deworde, and his friend Guilaumin, until their final confrontation. Will Marcel have his bullying way? Or will Bathilda find some resolution to her seemingly impossible moral dilemma? A great early work by this major French writer!

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In THE TWO WINE CASKS, a spurned priest of Bacchus switches the wine cups at a wedding to avenge himself on the woman he loves, who's marrying another. The enchanted vintage makes her hate her husband-to-be. Three great dramas of jealousy and its corrosive effects on the relations between men and women.

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In AGATHOCLES the two sons of the King of Syracuse (Agathocles) strive for the hand of the same girl, and the elder is killed by the younger. The ruler can only avenge his loss by sacrificing his remaining son–but doing so would mean the end of his dynasty.

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Based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name (penned when the author was only twenty-one), this macabre play begins in a morgue. The fearsome outlaw, Hans of Iceland, whose face has been seen by no one, determines to kill a regiment of Musketeers that he blames for the death of his son. His revenge intersects in a bloody way with the more conventional romantic plot of a young nobleman who loves the daughter of a political prisoner that the former Chancellor of Norway has held in thrall for many years. The tension ratchets up, culminating in a conflagration à la Samson that seems to anticipate the Grand Guignol movement by nearly a century. The story has the nightmarish logic of a bad dream. As one contemporary reviewer said: «If genius is very close to madness, then this work is very close to genius.» Great drama from a great writer!

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In 1828 a young man in rags appeared in the German city of Nurnberg, saying that he'd been kept isolated in a dungeon all of his life. Was he the bastard offshoot of some noble or royal family, secreted away to preserve the honor of the house? Within a few months he was dead under mysterious circumstances, his mystery still unsolved. CASPER HAUSER uses the uproar caused by Hauser's emergence to focus the white heat of the authors' indignation on the systematic maltreatment of individuals solely to spare the feelings of the rich and powerful elements of society. The anger of the playwrights permeates this straightforward, exceptionally powerful tale of a young man who never had a chance of living a normal life. The drama still plays well to a modern audience!

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In 1844-45, while Alexandre Dumas was working on his two classic novels, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, he found time to write a play called Sylvandire. A young provincial, Roger Tancred d'Anguilem, arrives in Paris to fight a legal battle for a huge inheritance. His opponent is an Indian called Afghano, who has bribed the judges. The case appears lost until Roger's approached by a sleazy lawyer who promises him success–but only if he marries a woman sight unseen. Sylvandire, his new wife, turns out to be a stunning beauty, but the marriage is intended to deliver his spouse as the unwilling mistress of a royal favorite, who can imprison Roger if he resists. The Dumasian themes of unjust imprisonment, followed by implacable revenge, which were more fully developed in Monte Cristo, here make their first appearance in this entertaining and swift-moving comedy.

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