Le Système Ribadier
Le Système Ribadier (in English Where There's a Will or Every Trick in the Book) is a comedy in three acts by Georges Feydeau which was performed for the first time in November 1892 at the théâtre du Palais-Royal. It was written in collaboration with Maurice Hennequin.
Plot
Eugène Ribadier is the second husband of Angèle, the widow of M. Robineau. In the wake of her first husband's deceits (he deceived her 365 times in 8 years!) Angele has developed a jealousy that borders on paranoia and she narrowly watches the activities of her second husband. Ribadier however possesses the gift of hypnotism — the eponymous system — and he profits from it by putting his wife to sleep at the time of his escapades. He wakes her on his return thanks to a trick he alone knows. Until the day that is, that he tactlessly reveals the trick to Aristide Thommereux, a friend of Robineau, who has returned from several years away in the East, hoping to renew his secret love for Angèle.
While Ribadier is off on one of his escapades Thommereux uses the trick to wake Angèle to tell her again of his passion. She rejects him, but as he gets more insistent they hear a loud noise from below. It is Ribadier returning early, hotly pursued by Savinet, a wine merchant and husband of Ribadier's mistress. Thommereux escapes by the window and Angèle feigns a deep hypnotic sleep. She therefore overhears Ribadier admit his guilt to Savinet and bounds up furious as soon as the wine merchant departs.
Ribadier tries various stratagems to recover his position including hypnotizing her again and trying to convince her she has dreamt what she heard. She however discovers the secret of the system and turns the tables by pretending that a lover has visited her every time she has been hypnotized. Thommereux thinks she means him, and abets Ribadier's outraged search for the unknown intruder. On the balcony they discover a button torn from a man's trousers. It turns out to belong to the amorous coachman Gusman who has been climbing up past the window to visit the maid Sophie. For a fee, Gusman readily admits that he has been climbing in to see a woman who received him eagerly; Ribadier and Thommereux are aghast and confront Angèle. Her denial convinces them, and Gusman relieves them all by telling them he was seeing Sophie and is dismissed with less than half his fee. Ribadier and Angèle are reconciled — Thommereux returns to the East disappointed.
Recent productions
Léa Drucker played Angèle in a production of the comedy shown on television in 2008.[1] This was a recording of the 2007 production at the Théâtre Montparnasse, directed by Christian Bujeau. Other parts were played by Bruno Solo, Jean-Noel Broute, Gerard Darier, Fabienne Galula, Romain Thunin.
The play was produced in English in 2009 by English Touring Theatre under the direction of Peter Hall.[2]
References
- ↑ TV5 programme information 2008
- ↑ ETT Production details