Léocadia

Léocadia is a French romantic comedy in two acts by Jean Anouilh (1910–1987)[1]. .

The original text

The play, one of Anouilh's so-called "Pièces roses", tells the story of a young nobleman who mourns the tragic death of a Romanian opera singer, Léocadia Gardi, whom he has only known for three magic days. To enticed him out of his melancholy a staged re-enactment of that period is set up by his aunt, using Amanda, a young milliner and look-alike of Léocadia, to seduce him back to life. The play premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris on 2 December 1940.

Translations and adaptations

Translated and adapted into English as Time Remembered by Patricia Moyes (1923-2000)[2] in 1954. The translation was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, on 25 October 1954, moving to London (1954-55), where it featured Paul Scofield, Margaret Rutherford, and Mary Ure in the leads. It was first performed and at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway in 1957 with Richard Burton, Helen Hayes, and Susan Strasberg, winning several awards.

Jeffrey Hatcher[3] also did English adaption of the play called To Fool the Eye, based on a literal translation by Stephanie L. Debner. It was first performed at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, in October of 2000 - directed by John Miller-Stephany. The text was published by Dramatists Play Service Inc. in 2000.

Translated as Leocadia by Timberlake Wertenbaker and published in the volume Anouilh: Plays 1 by Bloomsbury, 1987.

Performance history in South Africa

1954: Performed as Leocadia by the Little Theatre Players at the Little Theatre in May, directed by Donald Inskip. (Most probably done in English, using the Moyes translation, despite the title.)