Champignol in Spite of Himself

St. Florimond and Angèle, wife of the famous painter Champignol, have an affair – or rather, they almost had one. But Angèle is tired of the dalliance with St. Florimond. She wants to get rid of him – and would succeed, were it not for an unexpected visit by relatives that forces St. Florimond to play the role of her husband. Even when the gendarmes turn up to draft the painter for a reservists’ drill, St. Florimond keeps up the masquerade in order to conceal the adultery that never actually took place. He reports for duty in Champignol’s stead. When the real Champignol shows up at the same barracks shortly afterwards, the confusion is complete ...

With »Champignol wider Willen« (»Champignol In Spite of Himself «), which premiered in 1892 in Paris, Georges Feydeau – one of the most successful writers of Vaudeville theatre and a master of the comedy of mistaken identity – created a buoyant, lightening quick social farce. In an intricately constructed tissue of lies and misunderstandings, the characters find themselves caught up in one terrible quandary after another as the story spirals into increasing absurdity. It is an ideal comedy for Herbert Fritsch who, after »Zeppelin« and »NULL«, is now directing at the Schaubühne for the third time.

>>> Essay about the production in Pearson's Preview: Champignol in a Half-Shell, or Comedy Despite Itself