is a comedy in three acts by

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the Belle Époque era, remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parents and raised in a ...

which was performed for the first time on the 19 September 1892 at the

Théâtre Déjazet The Théâtre Déjazet () is a theatre on the boulevard du Temple (popularly known as the 'Boulevard du Crime, boulevard du crime') in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was founded in 1770 by Charles X of Fr ...

. Modern times commentators have remarked that even if this early play was still influenced by

Eugène Marin Labiche Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

composed by his daughter, who "rewrote ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' after

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

". To fulfill this objective, he asks his friend Dufausset who lives in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

to engage Dujeton, a well known

Tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

from the Bordeaux Opera. But instead of Dujeton, it's the son of Dufausset who comes. He is coming in Paris to study the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Pacarel mistakes him for Dujeton and signs a contract with him, leading to a series of misunderstandings.

Roles

* Pacarel * Dufausset * Marthe, wife of Pacarel * Julie, daughter of Pacarel * Landernau,

Physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

* Amandine, wife of Landernau * Lanoix de Vaux * Tiburce, valet * a mute female servant

References

Plays by Georges Feydeau 1888 plays {{1880s-play-stub