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by Georges Feydeau & Sacha Guitry, directed by David Danzon

Théâtre français de Toronto, Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, Toronto

November 18-December 3, 2005

"A Delightful Triple Bill"

In recent years Canada’s main classical theatre companies have presented French farce without much success.  Of three productions of works by master farceur Georges Feydeau (1862-1921)--“A Fitting Confusion” at Stratford in 1996, “A Flea in Her Ear” by Soulpepper in 2001 and “Something on the Side” at the Shaw this year--none had the lightness of touch combined with the precision of execution necessary to make farce work.  What a pleasure then to encounter this presentation by the Théâtre français de Toronto of three short farces and see them succeed brilliantly.  What a pleasure, too, to be introduced to delectable work of Sacha Guitry (1885-1957).

The TfT has given this triple bill the title “Jeux d’amour et de folie” (“Games of Love and Folly”).  First up is “Une paire de gifles” (“A Slap in the Face”) by Sacha Guitry from 1939.  Then “Feu la mère de Madame” (“Madame’s Late Mother”) by Feydeau from 1908 followed by “Une lettre bien tapée” (“A Well-Typed Letter”) by Guitry also from 1939.  Director David Danzon has the three follow one after the other without intermission, making this production not only a model of how to perform farce but how to make a satisfying whole of three one-act plays.

The first thing you see when you enter the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs is a white column with a slot in it marked “25¢” surmounted by an old gramophone.  When anyone puts a quarter in the slot a small curtain opens to reveal Danzon as an automaton in 17th-century costume welcoming us by means of a scratchy recording to the Théâtre des Funambules, the Parisian home of popular theatre.  Danzon is so delightfully perfect in imitating a machine that patrons queued up to cast in their quarters see his performance over and over again. 

On his last go before the show begins, Danzon speaks directly to us.  From then on he serves as a kind of chorus/stage manager linking the three playlets together.  An opening number where the cast sweeps the stage together introduces us to the players.  Danzon announces the play’s title and removes sheets covering the needed furniture.  Before the Feydeau he recites the authors printed description of the stage as he places significant props in place.  Danzon thus creates just the right sense of time, place and humour before the programme even begins and maintains it throughout the evening.

“Une paire de gifles” opens with two young people, L’Homme (Manuel Verreydt) and La Femme (Stéphanie Broschart), having an argument.  It seem that the man has been showering the married woman with gifts and attention for months, but she has not consented to be his mistress.  She says that it’s now too late and her impertinence so angers the young man that he slaps her face.  At that exact moment her husband (René Lemieux) enters and the young man pretends that the wife slapped him.  The husband is so successful in reconciling his good friend with his wife that he unknowingly becomes at once both pander and cuckold.  A reciprocal slap seals the agreement between the two lovers.

“Feu la mère de Madame” is not quite so neatly structured.  It involves an escalating series of unrelated mishaps that prevent the members of a household from sleeping.  The play begins at 4am with both Yvonne (Karen Racicot), the mistress of the house, and the unseen maid Annette (Broschart), soundly asleep.  Yvonne is awakened by the noisy arrival home of her husband Lucien (Lemieux), who is suffering both from drink and indigestion.  Disguised as Louis XIV, he has just returned from the Bal des Quat’z’Arts, a famous (or infamous) carnavalesque costume party organized every year by the students of L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

His 17th-century costume looks ridiculous in his modern apartment.  Annette has been sleeping in Lucien’s bed to keep Yvonne company through the night, now she is aggravated to be evicted to her own bed.  Yvonne and Lucien argue about whether the breasts of a model he saw at the party were superior to Yvonne’s then about the enormous expense of attending such a decadent affair.  Meanwhile, they periodically wake up Annette to wait on them.  Just when the couple’s fight is really taking off, a Valet (Verreydt) arrives with the sad news that Yvonne’s mother is not only not feeling well, as they feared, but is, in fact, dead.  This being a farce, there are several twists before the ending that leaves the couple relieved but still bickering.

The final play is the most charming.  A businessman (Verreydt) in a provincial hotel orders up a typist (Broschart) to type a letter to another businessman.  The pretty typist can’t help herself from commenting on the content of the businessman’s letter.  At the same time the businessman who has to wait by himself for two days for his business to be concluded can’t help noticing how pretty the typist is.  Eventually, his musings about the typist make their way into the very letter she is typing.  The interplay between what is conscious and unconscious in the couple’s actions is delicious.

The plays are well cast and well played with those who have multiple roles highlighting the contrasts among them.  The actors create a sense of ensemble that reinforces the sense of unity.  Danzon’s gradual unveiling of Glen Charles Landry’s single set, the pastel palette of Nina Okens’s costumes and Landry’s set and lighting further links the three plays as does Danzon decision to use the two short Guitrys to bookend the Feydeau.

The failure of other theatres to succeed with the “light” comedy of French farce stems from the heavy-handedness of both director and actors.  Here in “Jeux d’amour de folie”, Danzon, who is also a dancer, has realized that, like ballet, such works need a minutely detailed choreography where any effort in execution must be invisible to the audience.  The result is a delightfully well-planned, well-performed programme of verbal dance.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.

Photo: David Danzon as the Bonimenteur. ©Cycle Serious.