The Saucy Goose

The Belle Epoch and France’s “naughty nineties” produced what we now call the sex farce. The era also spawned Georges Feydeau, the undisputed master of the form. Three chestnuts from his golden period are A Flea in Her Ear, Hotel Paradiso and The Saucy Goose. These plays set a high standard for subsequent farce writing in theater, film, and the best television sitcoms.

The Saucy Goose marries a dizzy pace with satirical bite through a delightful jack-in-the-box construction. Despite its tight structure, the characters remain recognizable bourgeois types, even from our modern point of view. This sharpens the satire and allows Feydeau to address sexual conflicts through a comedy that would have outraged audiences of the time, if presented to them in serious drama.