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Octave Mirbeau: Two Plays : "Business is Business" and "Charity"
Author(s): Richard J. Hand (Translator)
- Publisher: Intellect Books
- Publication Date: 15 April 2012
- Language: English
- Print length: 160 pages
- ISBN-10: 1841504866
- ISBN-13: 9781841504865
Book Description
Octave Mirbeau was one of the most prolific literary figures of France’s storied Belle Époque, and his innovative theatrical works are only recently being rediscovered and appreciated by modern audiences. Here for the first time in English-language translation are his two most celebrated and successful plays: Business is Business, a classical comedy of manners recalling Molière; and Charity, a satirical comedy centered around the exploitation of adolescents in a dubious charity home. In addition to the play texts, this volume also includes an introduction contextualizing the works and the translation and adaptation process.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"This book will be of value not only to those interested in post-Dreyfus France and its culture, politics and history, but also to those interested in theatre per se. As a specialist in fin-de-siècle European culture, I would recommend it to teachers of the period. As someone who has been involved with student productions of French theatre, I would also recommend it as an excellent choice."—Richard Hibbitt, University of Leeds
-- Richard Hibbitt, University of Leeds
"These two remarkable plays belatedly reintroduce the comic world of Octave Mirbeau to the theatrical canon. Mirbeau's theatre is firmly in the mould of the French comedy of manners, but is savage in its condemnation of the hypocrisies that underpin his—and our—society. These plays are subversive, political, and above all, funny."—Sean Foley, award-winning playwright and director
-- Sean Foley, award-winning playwright and director
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Octave Mirbeau: Two Plays
Business Is Business & Charity
By Richard J. Hand
Intellect Ltd
Copyright © 2012 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84150-486-5
Contents
Introduction,
Octave Mirbeau: A Theatre Chronology,
Business Is Business, a comedy in three acts (Les Affaires sont les affaires, 1903),
Charity, a comedy in three acts (Le Foyer, 1908),
CHAPTER 1
Octave Mirbeau: A Theatre Chronology
1894
20 December: Vieux ménages (a comedy in one act), Théâtre d'Application.
1897
14 December: Les Mauvais Bergers (a play in five acts), Théâtre de la Renaissance.
1898
14 May: L'Épidémie(a farce in one act), Théâtre Antoine.
1900
29 October: Revival of Vieux ménages (a comedy in one act), Théâtre du Grand-Guignol.
1901
25 May: Les Amants (a comedy in one act), Théâtre du Grand-Guignol.
1902
19 February: Le Portefeuille (a comedy in one act), Théâtre de la Renaissance-Gémier. 2 June: Scrupules (a play in one act), Théâtre du Grand-Guignol.
1903
20 April : Les Affaires sont les affaires (a comedy in three acts), Comédie-Française.
1904
1 February: Interview (a farce in one act), Théâtre du Grand-Guignol.
1908
7 December: Le Foyer (a comedy in three acts), Comédie-Française.
Business Is Business
A Comedy in Three Acts (Les Affaires sont les affaires, 1903)
ISIDORE LECHAT, newspaper owner and businessman, 57
MRS LECHAT, ISIDORE'S wife, 57
GERMAINE LECHAT, ISIDORE'S daughter, 25
MARQUIS OF PORCELLET, 60
XAVIER LECHAT, SON OF ISIDORE, 21
LUCIEN GARRAUD, chemist employed by Isidore, 30
PHINCK, electrical engineer, 35
GRUGGH, electrical engineer, 35
VISCOUNT OF FONTANELLE, intendant of Vauperdu chateau, 64
HEAD GARDENER
MAGISTRATE
TAX INSPECTOR
DOCTOR
YOUNG GARDENER
CAPTAIN
MAGISTRATE
MAGISTRATE'S WIFE
DOCTOR
DOCTOR'S WIFE
TAX INSPECTOR
TAX INSPECTOR'S WIFE
JULIE, a servant
FOOTMAN
SERVANTS
Act 1
The gardens of the Vauperdu chateau.
To the right, a monumental staircase, adorned with golden torches, leads to the chateau which is unseen but lies to the rear of the stage. To one side of the steps is a huge line of rosebushes; on the other side, there are enormous flowery shrubs. To the left, in the background, are the French-style grounds which are enormous and magnificent with flowerbeds, ornamental lakes, delicately trimmed yew trees, marble balustrades and so on. Also on the left, a green marble statue of a sinisterly laughing fawn stands in the overgrown shade of a large tree. The forced regular lines of avenues, sunlit and dusty, can be seen in the distance. Through them, one can see the open plain, the fields and the wooded hillsides. It is a sumptuous backdrop.
When the curtain rises, MRS LECHAT sits, dressed in lace, in a large chair stuffed with cushions. She is knitting, wearing large, round glasses. Within reach of her on the table is her knitting bag. She is a large woman, plump and vulgar, wearing an excess of make-up. To her left is her daughter, GERMAINE, sitting on a garden chaise longue with an open book on her lap. GERMAINE gazes dreamily through the gardens to the countryside beyond. She is twenty-five, with a lithe figure and her eyes passionate yet sad. She is beautiful yet is dressed very simply and neglectfully. Here and there are tables and other wicker furniture. It is the end of a beautiful September day.
Scene One
MRS LECHAT: (Without looking up from her knitting) Germaine? ...
GERMAINE: Yes, mother? ...
MRS LECHAT: You're very quiet this evening ...
GERMAINE: I obviously have nothing to say.
MRS LECHAT: You're normally reading something ...
GERMAINE: I have nothing to read.
MRS LECHAT: Are you daydreaming? ...
GERMAINE: I have nothing to dream about ...
MRS LECHAT: Well ... what are you doing? ...
GERMAINE: Nothing ... I'm completely bored ...
MRS LECHAT: (Shrugging) Yes ... yes ... I realize that ... Well ... listen to me ... Maybe this will distract you ... What's the time?
GERMAINE: Six o'clock ...
MRS LECHAT: Six o'clock ... Already? ... Doesn't time fly! ... (A FOOTMAN enters from the hall and comes down steps carrying a letter on a tray) What is it?
FOOTMAN: A telegram, madam.
MRS LECHAT: (Stops knitting) A telegram? ... Whoever can have sent me a telegram? ... (Confused) It's funny ... Whenever I receive a telegram I get butterflies in my stomach ... (She takes the telegram and opens it. The FOOTMAN withdraws) Wait! (Looks at the telegram) It's from Ostend ... It's your brother ... (Reads) 'Coming for lunch at Vauperdu tomorrow ... Xavier' (To the FOOTMAN) Why are you standing there? ... Off you go ... (FOOTMAN exits) Tomorrow ... A day for racing, Xavier? ... (She turns the telegram over and over in her hands) Something's not right ... as usual ... (Pause) Anyway ... he won't be coming here out of the goodness of his heart ... And I bet he hasn't paid for the telegram either ... (Looks at the telegram) Of course! ... I knew it ... (Puts the telegram on the table and sighs) Anyway ... (Picks up her knitting) What time is it?
GERMAINE: I've already told you ... six o'clock ...
MRS LECHAT: Oh, yes! ... Doesn't time fly! ... What about your father? ... I'm worried ... You know what he's like, bringing anyone home ... What on earth has he gone to Paris for? ... Any idea? ...
GERMAINE: How on earth would I know?
MRS LECHAT: He might have said something to you ...
GERMAINE: I didn't see him this morning ... Besides ... my father never tells me anything ...
MRS LECHAT: Well, what do you expect? ... You always give him the cold shoulder ...
GERMAINE: Do you honestly think that at nine o'clock this morning he knew where he'd be at six o'clock this evening? ...
MRS LECHAT: That's true ... that's just like him ... (Short silence) The journalists who work on his papers ... Heaven knows they don't bother me ... But those five or six strangers he dragged in the other day! He didn't warn me ... And it's always people I don't know ... And today is Saturday of course ... Sunday tomorrow ... We'll be expected to put everyone up for the night and lend them clean nightshirts ... Just like last weekend ... Oh! What a fine business! (She heaves a long sigh) You see, I thought we'd just have a bite to eat tonight ... last night's leftovers, no more than that ... I'm afraid there won't be enough ... (Reacting to a movement by GERMAINE) Yes ... Yes ... Mock your own home, why don't you ... Ah! You'd be wise not to get married ... What a lovely household you'd run ... I'd give you two years before being totally ruined ... (GERMAINE laughs and relaxes on a chaise longue) I don't know why you're laughing ... There's nothing to laugh at, you know, there really isn't ...
GERMAINE: Shall I cry instead? ... (She readjusts her hair where a pin came out) That'd suit me better ...
MRS LECHAT: It's impossible to talk to you ... seriously ... for more than two minutes. (A silence) It's so annoying that your father never warns me...
