Un chapeau de paille d'Italie (play)
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''The Italian Straw Hat'' (''Un chapeau de paille d'Italie'') is a five-act comedy by
Eugène Labiche Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Marc-Michel Marc-Antoine-Amédée Michel, known as Marc-Michel (22 July 1812 in Marseille – 12 March 1868 in Paris) was a French poet, playwright and journalist. He is perhaps best known today for the 1851 farce he co-wrote with Eugène Marin Labiche, ''The ...
. It premiered at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris on 14 August 1851. It has been adapted for the cinema in French, English, German, Czech and Russian, and as a musical play in English and Italian versions. The piece remains regularly staged in France, where it entered the repertoire of the Comédie-Française in Paris and of theatres in other French cities.


Plot

The play is set in Paris in the middle of the 19th century, on the morning of the day on which Fadinard, a well-to-do bachelor, is to marry Hélène Nonancourt, daughter of a suburban market-gardener. Hélène, together with her cantankerous father and a fleet of eight cabs full of wedding guests, is on her way. Fadinard has ridden ahead to make final arrangements. On the way, his horse has eaten a straw hat hung on a bush. The hat belonged to Anaïs, an ex-girlfriend of Fadinard's, who has been dallying behind the bush with her lover, Émile. She and Émile have followed Fadinard to his house, and they insist on a replacement hat, explaining that Anaïs's husband is obsessively jealous and would demand to know the circumstances in which she lost her original hat. Just as Fadinard rushes out in search of a replacement, Hélène and the wedding-party arrive. Assuming that he is on his way to the ceremony, they get back into their cabs and follow him. Fadinard discovers that finding an identical hat is not as easy as he imagined. His search first takes him to a milliner (Clara), then to an aristocrat (la baronne de Champigny), and then to a bachelor (Achille de Rosalba); on each occasion, the wedding party arrives hot on his heels. The chase ends outside Fadinard's house when one of the wedding-guests, his old uncle, Vézinet, produces his present, an Italian straw hat identical to the one eaten by the horse: the wedding is saved and the play ends in general celebration.


Original cast

*Fadinard – Pierre-Alfred Ravel *Nonancourt – Paul Grassot ( fr) *Beauperthuis – Lhéritier ( fr) *Vezinet – Amant ( fr) *Tardiveau – Jean-François Kalekaire ( fr) *Bobin – Joseph Schey ( fr) *Émile Tavernier – Valaire *Félix – Augustin *Achille de Rosalba – Jules Lacourière ( fr) *A corporal – Floridor *A domestic servant – Andrieux *Hélène – Marie-Mathilde Chauvière *Anaïs – Mme. Berger *La baronne de Champigny – Pauline *Clara – Cécile Azimont ( fr) *Virginie – Mlle. Gallois *A chambermaid – Mlle. Chollet ::Source: Les archives du spectacle.


Revivals and adaptations


French productions

In the 80 years after its creation there were more than 100 productions of the play throughout France."An Italian Straw Hat"
''Drama Online''. Retrieved 8 September 2018
It was taken into the repertoire of the Comédie-Française in 1938, under the direction of
Gaston Baty Gaston Baty (26 May 1885 – 13 October 1952), whose full name was Jean-Baptiste-Marie-Gaston Baty, was a French playwright and theatre director. He was born in Pélussin, Loire, France. Career In 1921, Baty formed his own company ''Les Compag ...
,"Un chapeau de paille d'Italie"
Les archives du spectacle. Retrieved, 7 September2018
and has remained there ever since. It has been revived by other companies in Paris and other French cities in more than 30 new productions, and has been presented several times in every decade from the 1930s onwards.


British productions

The first version in English was given under the title ''A Leghorn Bonnet'', at the Adelphi Theatre in 1852. That adaptation, by
John Oxenford John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator. Life Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. Whilst he was privately educated, it is reported that he was m ...
, retained Paris as the setting. It closed after 11 performances, and the play became more familiar to London audiences in the original French version, which Ravel and his company played at the St James's Theatre in 1867, and again in 1871. In 1873 W. S. Gilbert adapted the original as ''The Wedding March''. He wrote his version under the pen name of "F.Latour Tomline", moving the action to London and suppressing the adulterous aspect of the original. That version was a box-office success, but Gilbert's later adaptation as a musical play, ''
Haste to the Wedding ''Haste to the Wedding'' is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''. The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmi ...
'' (1892), with music by George Grossmith, achieved only a short run. An English translation by Thomas Walton was presented by the Old Vic company in 1952 with
Laurence Payne Laurence Stanley Payne (5 June 1919 – 23 February 2009) was an English actor and novelist. Early life Payne was born in London. His father died when he was three years old, and he and his elder brother and sister were brought up by their ...
as Fadinard. A translation by Lynn and Theodore Hoffman entitled ''An Italian Straw Hat'' was staged by the Edinburgh Gateway Company in 1962. A London West End production in 1987 starred Tom Conti; the adaptation by
Ray Cooney Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director. His biggest success, '' Run for Your Wife'' (1983), ran for nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 ...
followed the original plot but broadened the comedy somewhat.


North American productions

An American adaptation, titled ''The Straw Hat'' was given in New York by the American Laboratory Theatre company in 1926. The Parisian setting was retained, but the characters were given pseudo-French names like "Baroness Crème de la Crème" and "Gillette Rapide". A later American adaptation, '' Horse Eats Hat'' by Edwin Denby and Orson Welles, was presented at Maxine Elliott's Theatre in 1936, with Joseph Cotten in the lead role. The Parisian setting was dropped, and the characters had English names such as "Entwistle" and "Mugglethorpe". 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 ...
staged a production in 1971 starring Robin Gammell, Tony Van Bridge and Dinah Christie. It ran for 36 performances during the Festival's summer season.


Film and broadcasts

René Clair directed a silent film of the play in 1927, with
Albert Préjean Albert Préjean (27 October 1894 in Paris – 1 November 1979 in Paris) was a French actor, primarily in film. He served in World War I, and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'honneur. With Lysiane Rey, he was the ...
as Fadinard. A German film adaptation, '' Der Florentiner Hut'', was directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner in 1939, and starred
Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...
. Another French version followed in 1941, starring Fernandel as Fadinard. It was also made as a French TV movie directed by
François Goetghebeur François Goetghebeur (born 13 November 1974) is a French film director, photographer and art director. He became known in the music world thanks to his work including music videos, recordings, documentaries and artists portraits. Early life ...
in 2016. A Russian film was made in 1974, titled '' The Straw Hat'' (''Соломенная шляпка''), directed by Leonid Kvinikhidze and starring Andrei Mironov. The BBC has broadcast television and radio versions of the piece. On radio, Laurence Payne and Geraldine McEwan featured in 1960, and in 1969 John Moffatt starred as Fadinard in Glyn Dearman's translation. In 1968 BBC television showed a new version of the play, adapted by
Caryl Brahms Doris Caroline Abrahams (8 December 1901 – 5 December 1982), commonly known by the pseudonym Caryl Brahms, was an English critic, novelist, and journalist specialising in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and television scripts ...
and Ned Sherrin, with Patrick Cargill in the lead."The Italian Straw Hat"
BBC Genome. Retrieved 7 September 2018


Music

The Paris production of the original play contained 23 songs, with new words to popular old tunes. This was a proceeding familiar to Gilbert from his
burlesques A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
of the 1860s. For his 1873 adaptation he removed all the songs; for the 1892 version he wrote 12 new song lyrics, set by Grossmith. For a 1929 stage production of the play,
Jacques Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first ...
composed incidental music later adapted as the suite ''Divertissement'' (1930). In 1955 the play was adapted by Nino Rota (music) with an Italian-language libretto by the composer and his mother, Ernesta Rota Rinaldi, as the opera ''The Florentine Straw Hat'' (''Il cappello di paglia di Firenze''). The work premiered at the Teatro Massimo in
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
on 21 April 1955. It was subsequently produced by the Vienna Volksoper (1963), and at the
Camden Festival Camden Festival was an annual spring festival founded in 1954 and held in London, England. Originally, it was named the St Pancras Festival until 1965. It continued until 1987. The festival specialised in the revival of long-forgotten operas, some ...
in London in 1980. The work was recorded for the gramophone with the cast and chorus and orchestra of Rome Opera conducted by the composer. A 1998 production at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
starred Juan Diego Flórez as Fadinard; a video of that production was released in 1999. In 2005 the National Ballet of Canada presented an adaptation of the play, choreographed by
James Kudelka James Kudelka, OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario), is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in ...
to an original score by Michael Torke. '' Variety'' called it "an effervescent work that barely ever touches the ground"."An Italian Straw Hat"
''Variety'', 18 May 2005


Critical assessment

Kenneth McLeish, author of a 1996 English translation, describes the play as taking elements from "two of the most popular forms of 19th-century French theatre, vaudeville and the 'well-made' play" and combining them. He summarises vaudevilles as "satirical farce, lampooning the bourgeoisie and using slapstick, dance, song and such stock characters as dodderer, philanderer, pretty girl, jealous husband and peppery soldier"; he contrasts this with "well-made" plays, which centred on a tightly-organised plot in which "the entire action was motivated by some secret involving the main character, a secret revealed only gradually as the play proceeded, until by the final curtain full knowledge had completely changed everyone's lives". McLeish writes that ''An Italian Straw Hat'', unusually for a farce, "won almost immediate acclaim not only from the public, but from critics and academics alike". It was revived more often than any other of Labiche’s plays, and when he published his "Complete Works" in 1878, he placed it first in the first volume.


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Straw Hat, The 1851 plays Comedy plays French plays adapted into films Culture of Paris Theatre in Paris