Champignol malgré lui
Champignol malgré lui (Champignol despite himself) is a farce in three acts, by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières. It was first performed in Paris in 1892–93, and ran for 434 performances. The play depicts the complications arising when one man is obliged by circumstances to do military service for another, while the latter, unaware, is doing military service on his own account, under the same name. Background and first production In 1886 the 24-year-old Feydeau had a great success with his first full-length play, Tailleur pour dames (Ladies' Tailor), but his next five plays had been failures or very modest successes. After a period of studying the works of the earlier comic masters of the 19th century he wrote two new plays in 1892: Monsieur chasse! (Monsieur is hunting) and Champignol malgré lui – the latter in collaboration with Maurice Desvallières. The management of the Théâtre du Palais-Royal accepted Monsieur chasse! for production, but rejected Champignol malgré lui as too far-fetched and implausible to convince an audience. Feydeau's old friend, Henri Micheau, the owner of the Théâtre des Nouveautés, insisted on seeing the rejected script and immediately recognised it as a potential winner. His judgment was vindicated by the runs