Georges Feydeau was born in Paris on December 8, 1862, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and a Polish woman. He found his first success at the age of twenty-four with TAILLEUR POUR DAMES (LADIES' DRESSMAKER, 1889). That same year Feydeau married Marianne Carolus-Duran, the daughter of the famous portrait painter Carolus-Duran. To Feydeau, the marriage brought wealth that would sustain him until he found greater success. The marriage lasted fifteen years, after which the couple underwent a judicial separation and were formally divorced in 1916. Feydeau began a study of great farces in 1890, studying the works of Eugène Labiche, Henri Meilhac, and Alfred Hennequin. This study brought him success with his play CHAMPIGNOL MALGRÉ LUI (CHAMPIGNOL IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, 1892). Following this, Feydeau made a name for himself both in France and abroad. Among his sixty plays are his famous UNE PUCE À L'ORIELLE (A FLEA IN HER EAR, 1907), LA DAME DE CHEZ MAXIM (THE GIRL FROM MAXIM'S, 1899), and HORTENSE A DIT: "J'M'EN FOUS!" (HORTENSE SAYS, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!," 1916). Other notable Feydeau farces are L'HÔTEL DU LIBRE ÉCHANGE (translated as HOTEL PARADISO, 1894) and LE DINDON (SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE, 1896). During the winter of 1918 Feydeau contracted syphilis and slowly descended into madness in the remaining years of his life. He passed away on June 5, 1921.
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Charles Morey is the author of eleven produced plays. FIGARO was commissioned and produced Off-Broadway by the Pearl Theatre Company and was named a NY Times “Critic’s Pick.” LAUGHING STOCK has received well over a hundred productions around the world, and THE LADIES MAN, an adaptation from Feydeau, has been produced over fifty times. In addition, his produced plays include THE GRANITE STATE, DUMAS’ CAMILLE, THE YELLOW LEAF, as well as adaptations of the 19th century classic novels “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Dracula,” and “The Three Musketeers.” His plays have been produced at numerous professional theatres including Denver Center Theatre Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare and Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Asolo Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, A Noise Within, Meadow Brook Theatre, PCPA Theaterfest, L.A.Theatreworks, Peterborough Players, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Elm Shakespeare Co., Centenary Stage Co., Creede Rep., Arvada Center, Shadowland Theatre, Sierra Rep., Theatre in the Square, and Cortland Rep., as well as hundreds of amateur, university and international productions as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Austria, Singapore, and Israel. LAUGHING STOCK has been playing in Russian translation since 2013 in the repertory of the Arcadia Theatre in Moscow. He served as artistic director of the Peterborough Players for twelve years and the Pioneer Theatre Company for twenty-eight. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he received a MFA from Columbia University. He is a fellow of the MacDowell Colony. www.charlesmorey.com
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