Ferdinand Martin and Agénor Montgommier are tranquilly playing a game of bezique, as they do every day. These two old friends are as inseparable as Bouvard and Pécuchet. Of course there is a slight snag: one of the two friends is married, the other one isn’t. And the latter is cheating on the former. But to be honest, Agénor would quite gladly get rid of Madame Martin…this seems pretty obvious. But Labiche, in two surprises and three walk-ons, very quickly sets fire to the stage and our heroes, torn from the cushy comfort of their Parisian living room, suddenly find themselves in a struggle to the death…Once again, Labiche’s unique talent manages to reconcile social critique and a form of theater that is fast, by changing subjects at the speed of light, turning situations around in a blink. Peter Stein is one of his great admirers: forty years ago, it was he who created a German version of La Cagnotte.
à lire Le Prix Martin d'Eugène Labiche, Imprimerie Nationale, « Comédie-Française Répertoire », 1993.
Cast
creation
directed by Peter Stein
stage design Ferdinand Wögerbauer
costumes design Annamaria
Production Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe.
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