Le Procès Veauradieux
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''Le Procès Veauradieux'' (The Veauradieux Trial) is an 1875
farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...
written by Alfred Hennequin and
Alfred Delacour Alfred Delacour or Alfred-Charlemagne Delacour, real name Pierre-Alfred Lartigue, (3 September 1817 – 31 March 1883 ) was a 19th-century French playwright and librettist. Biography In addition to his occupation as a physician, which he prac ...
. It was one of the major successes of Hennequin's career.


Background and first production

Alfred Hennequin had a success with his
farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...
''Les trois chapeaux'', produced at the
Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville () was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Pierre-Antoine-Augustin de Piis, Piis and Yves Barré, Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets s ...
, Paris in 1871, but as ''Le Figaro'' later commented, "in Paris, the difficulty is not writing amusing plays – it is getting them played". Hennequin's next success was not until June 1875. He collaborated with
Alfred Delacour Alfred Delacour or Alfred-Charlemagne Delacour, real name Pierre-Alfred Lartigue, (3 September 1817 – 31 March 1883 ) was a 19th-century French playwright and librettist. Biography In addition to his occupation as a physician, which he prac ...
on a three-act farce, ''Le Procès Veauradieux'' (The Veauradieux Trial). The Vaudeville was officially closed for the customary summer break, and Paris was in the middle of a heatwave, but the members of the theatre's company decided to stage the play regardless of their management.Vitu, Auguste
"Premières représentations"
''Le Figaro'', 21 June 1875, p. 3
It opened on 19 June 1875 and ran for 175 performances, at a time when a run of more than 100 performances was regarded as a success in Parisian theatres.


Original cast

*Gastinel – Auguste Parade *Fauvinard – Saint-Germain *Tardivant – Alfred Dieudonné *De Bagnolle – Édouard Georges *Mme Laiguisier – Mme Alexis *Césarine – Léontine Massin *Mme de Bagnolle – Mlle Germinie *Angèle – Mlle Delta *Isidore-Fanchette – Mlle Lamare *Thérèse – Mlle Marcelle *Sophie – Mlle Andréa :Source: ''
Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...
'' and
Les Archives du spectacle Les Archives du spectacle – The Performing Arts Archive – is an online French database covering live performance (theatre, dance, opera, puppetry, etc.). It was created in 2007.Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' Auguste Vitu wrote, "M. Delacour and M. Hennequin won the Veauradieux Trial, with interest, damages and costs; we laughed for two hours, laughed as in the good old days of the Vaudeville, as at the best evenings of the Palais-Royal, we laughed like a herd of madmen".


Revivals and adaptations

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...
adapted the play as ''Forbidden Fruit'', premiered 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 Stre ...
in 1876, That version was given in the West End in 1880, but the first version of ''Le Procès Veauradieux'' seen in London was ''The Great Divorce Case'' by "John Doe and Richard Roe" (later revealed to be
Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...
and Arthur Mattison),"The Great Divorce Case"
Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 22 August 2020
successfully produced by Charles Wyndham at the
Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...
, London, in April 1876. That version, which was suitably toned down to satisfy the
Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
(the official censor) and the Victorian public, was translated back into French so that a French troupe, led by Didier and Schey, could perform the more respectable version during their 1876 season in London: the Lord Chamberlain declined to license Delacour and Hennequin's original. Wyndham presented ''The Great Divorce Case'' on Broadway in 1883. ''Le Procès Veauradieux'' was revived in London in 2010 at the
Orange Tree Theatre The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style. Th ...
under the title ''Once Bitten''.Spencer, Charles
"Once Bitten, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 6 January 2011


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Proces Veauradieux, Le French plays 1875 plays Comedy plays Plays by Alfred Hennequin