Hotel Paradiso

Hotel Paradiso (L'Hôtel du Libre échange [1] in the original French: "Free Exchange Hotel") is an 1894 French comedy by Georges Feydeau [2] and Maurice Desvallieres. The play takes place in Paris in the 19th century, and follows two Parisian households and their friends over the course of two days. The play has three acts; acts one and three take place in Monsieur Pinglet's office, while act two takes place in Hôtel du Libre échange, a small Paris hotel. The play has been translated into several other languages.

Performance history in South Africa

1965: Presented by CAPAB directed by Robert Aden opening 28 April 1965 at the Hofmeyr Theatre. Mavourneen Bryceland was in the cast.

1971: Directed by Victor Melleney for PACT (in Afrikaans?), 1971 starring Tine Balder (Angelique), George Ballot (Maxime), Don Lamprecht (Martin), Louis van Niekerk (Cot),Marius Weyers (Tabu en Bouchard).

1977: Presented by Natal Theatre Workshop Company at the City Centre Theatre, directed by Pieter Scholtz.

1984: The Afrikaans translation by Francois Swart was staged by PACT, directed by William Egan and Tjaart Potgieter, with Egan (Boniface), Alida Theron (Angelique), Schalk Schoombie (Cot), Petru Wessels (Marcelle), Rufus Swart (Maxime), Jocelyn Broderick (Victoire), Pierre Knoesen (Martin), Helena Hettema (Violette), Sari van Rooyen (Marguerite), Gina Benjamin (Paquerette), Carolyn Barkhuizen (Pervenche), Kobus Kleynhans (Anniello), Johan Engelbrecht (Geroges), Rita Ehlers ('n Dame), Willem van Staden ('n Heer), Francois Viljoen (Tabu & Bouchard) and James MacNamara. Decor by Stan Knight and costumes by Gloria Lovegrove.

2005: The translation by Peter Glanville was directed by Andrew Buckland and presented by the Rhodes University Drama Department in March/April 2005.

Translations and adaptations

English Translation of L'Hotel du Libre Echange: Hotel Paradiso, Adaptation by Peter Glenville, 1957, 1960, London: Heinemann. Published by Samuel French in the USA in 1958. This is the version that was produced on Broadway. It was also the version made into a 1966 film directed by Peter Glenville.

Translated into Afrikaans by Francois Swart for the production by PACT in 1971?

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'H%C3%B4tel_du_libre_%C3%A9change

http://funwithfeydeau.blogspot.com/2010/05/english-translations-of-hotel-du-libre.html

CAPAB List of Plays Presented, 1971.

PACT list, 1972.

Siener in die Suburbs theatre programme containg list of actors and their roles for TRUK 1965-1971.

AfricaWide Database

PACT theatre programme, 1984.

Return to

Return to H in Plays II Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page