Le Procès Veauradieux

Overview

A popular farce written by Alfred Hennequin and Alfred Delacour, premiered on 19 June 1875 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris. It ran for 175 performances, a major success by the standards of the time.

Plot

The play centers on Fauvinart, a respectable lawyer who secretly visits his mistress Césarine. One evening he is caught there by the police in his "bonnet grec et robe de chambre" (dressing cap and dressing gown), drinking tea. A cascade of comic complications follows as his wife, mother-in-law, friends, and eventually the courts become involved.

Relevance to Marie

Marie and her circle saw this play performed at the Nice theater in autumn 1875. The motifs of the "bonnet grec" (dressing cap) and "robe de chambre" (dressing gown) became running jokes among Marie and the Sapogenikoff sisters, who applied them to Audiffret's visits to Gioia's house. They sent anonymous letters to Audiffret warning "with the dressing gown and the dressing cap, you will rot!" — a recurring comic refrain across carnet 045.

Historical Context

The play was adapted into English by Dion Boucicault as "Forbidden Fruit" (1876, Broadway). Its enormous popularity made its catchphrases common currency in French social circles of the mid-1870s.

References in Diary

• First mentioned: 1875-09-28 (carnet 045)
• Key entries: 1875-09-28, 1875-09-29, 1875-09-30, 1875-10-01, 1875-10-02