''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist
Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II.
His work ...
, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life.
The original production was done with Giraudoux's frequent collaborator, actor and theater director
Louis Jouvet
Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet (24 December 1887 – 16 August 1951) was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker.
Early life
Jouvet was born in Crozon. He had a stutter as a young man and originally trained as a pharmacist. He receive ...
, who played the Ragpicker. The celebrated French actress
Marguerite Moreno
Marguerite Moreno (born Lucie Marie Marguerite Monceau; 15 September 1871, Paris - 14 July 1948, Touzac, Lot) was a French stage and film actress.
On 12 September 1900, in England, she married the writer Marcel Schwob, whom she had met in 189 ...
was the inspiration for the piece. The play has frequently been revived in France, with the title role played by
Edwige Feuillère
Edwige Feuillère (born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti; October 29, 1907 – November 13, 1998) was a French stage and film actress.
Biography
She was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti to an Italian architect father and an Alsace-born mo ...
,
Madeleine Robinson
Madeleine Robinson (born Madeleine Svoboda; 5 November 1917 – 1 August 2004) was a French actress. She was born to a French mother and Czech father near Paris. She was orphaned at the age of 14, and worked to support herself and her two younge ...
, or
Judith Magre
Judith Magre (born 20 November 1926) is a French actress, born in Montier-en-Der, Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is ...
.
Plot summary
The play is set in the cafe "chez Francis" in the Place de l'Alma in the
Chaillot
The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''.
The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...
district of Paris. A group of corrupt corporate executives are meeting. They include the Prospector, the President, the Broker and the Baron, and they are planning to dig up Paris to get at the oil which they believe lies beneath its streets. Their nefarious plans come to the attention of Countess Aurelia, the benignly eccentric madwoman of the title. She is an aging idealist who sees the world as happy and beautiful. But, advised by her associate, the Ragpicker, who is a bit more worldly than the Countess, she soon comes to realize that the world might well be ruined by these evil men—men who seek only wealth and power. These people have taken over Paris. "They run everything, they corrupt everything," says the Ragpicker. Already things have gotten so bad that the pigeons do not bother to fly any more. One of the businessmen says in all seriousness, "What would you rather have in your backyard: an almond tree or an oil well?"
Aurelia resolves to fight back and rescue humanity from the scheming and corrupt developers. She enlists the help of her fellow outcasts: the Street Singer, The Ragpicker, The Sewer Man, The Flower Girl, The Sergeant, and various other oddballs and dreamers. These include her fellow madwomen: the acidic Constance, the girlish Gabrielle, and the ethereal Josephine. In a tea party every bit as mad as a scene from ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'', they put the "wreckers of the world's joy" on trial, and in the end condemn them to banishment—or perhaps, death. One by one the greedy businessmen are lured by the smell of oil to a bottomless pit from which they will (presumably) never return. Peace, love, and joy return to the world. Even the earthbound
pigeons
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
are flying again.
Critiques
''Theatre Arts'' magazine described the play as "one part fantasy, two parts reason." The
New York Drama Critics' Circle
The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...
hailed the 1948–50 production as "one of the most interesting and rewarding plays to have been written within the last twenty years", "pure gold, with no base metal" and having "an enveloping and irresistible humor."
Original productions
''La Folle de Chaillot'' was translated into English by
Maurice Valency
Maurice Valency (22 March 1903 – 28 September 1996) was a playwright, author, critic, and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award-winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Friedric ...
, in Jean Giraudoux, ''Four Plays'', vol. 1 (1958).
* first performed on 19 December 1945 in Paris at the
Théâtre de l'Athénée
The Théâtre de l'Athénée is a theatre at 7 rue Boudreau, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Renovated in 1996 and classified a historical monument, the Athénée inherits an artistic tradition marked by the figure of Louis Jouvet who dire ...
in a production by
Louis Jouvet
Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet (24 December 1887 – 16 August 1951) was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker.
Early life
Jouvet was born in Crozon. He had a stutter as a young man and originally trained as a pharmacist. He receive ...
.
* December 1948 – January 1950 production at the
Belasco and
Bernard B. Jacobs theatres on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. This featured
Martita Hunt
Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havi ...
(playing the role of the Madwoman for over 350 performances and winning a 1949
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
for her performance), and
John Carradine
John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later Jo ...
as The Ragpicker.
* 1969: production at the
Oxford Playhouse
Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum.
History
The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...
in Oxford, England, featuring
Hugh Paddick
Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and " Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He a ...
.
* 1969: Broadway musical adaptation of the
Maurice Valency
Maurice Valency (22 March 1903 – 28 September 1996) was a playwright, author, critic, and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award-winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Friedric ...
translation as ''
Dear World
''Dear World'' is a musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. With its opening, Herman became the first composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broad ...
'', starring
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
, music and lyrics by
Jerry Herman
Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre.
One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricis ...
, book by
Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence (born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz; July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence pa ...
and
Robert E. Lee. This won a Tony for Lansbury.
* 1975: English adaptation by Maurice Valency at The College of Santa Fe Greer Garson Theatre, starring
Greer Garson
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...
.
* 1985: production from the Mirror Repertory Theatre at the Theatre at St. Peter's Church, starring
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acade ...
.
Lortel Archives
/ref>
* 1992: dance performance starring Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...
, choreography by Gigi Caciuleanu
Gigi may refer to:
Colette novella-related
* ''Gigi'' (novella), a 1944 novella by the French writer Colette
** ''Gigi'' (1949 film), a French adaptation of the novella by Jacqueline Audry
** ''Gigi'' (1958 film), an American musical by Vince ...
, music by Rodion Shchedrin
Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR State ...
; Paris, Espace Cardin
Espace may refer to:
*ESPACE, a complexity class in computational complexity theory
* Espace musique, a Canadian radio service
* Espace 2, a Swiss radio station
* Radio Espace, a French radio station
*Espace Group, a French media company
*Group Esp ...
.
* 2016: re-adaptation and new English translation performed by Experimental Theatre Wing at NYU, directed by Cecil Mackinnon with original music by Johnathan Hart-Makwaia, performed at the Abe Burrows Theatre.
* 2017: a new English translation by David Edney
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, commissioned by and performed at the Stratford Festival
The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
, Ontario, Canada. Directed by Donna Feore
Donna Feore (née Starnes, born June 20, 1963) is a Canadian choreographer and theatre director, most noted for her work with the National Arts Centre and the Stratford Festival.
Early life
Donna Starnes was born in Dawson Creek, British Colu ...
, starring Seana McKenna as Aurelia and Scott Wentworth
Scott Wentworth (born 1955) is an American actor and director who immigrated to Canada in 1986.
Early life
Wentworth was born in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1955.
Career
After starting his career in New York City, he began a ...
as the Rag Picker.
Film Version
In 1969, ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' starring Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
was produced based on Maurice Valency's translation of the play.
References
External links
*
*
*
1952 ''Best Plays'' radio adaptation of the play
at Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madwoman of Chaillot, The
Plays by Jean Giraudoux
Broadway plays
1945 plays
Satirical plays
French plays adapted into films
Paris in fiction
Plays set in France