The Rehearsal (Black/Johnson, trans.)

The characters in this haunting play begin little by little to slip from the mid twentieth century into the past. The count has decided to present a performance of Marivaux's Double Inconstancy and has cast himself, his wife, his mistress and his wife's lover in the principal parts. As they wait for their rehearsal cues, the players drift imperceptibly into the cynicism of Marivaux's period. A pretty young girl who supervises twelve little orphans is the fatal lure to men. The count falls in love with her in a gesture of abandonment to his lost youth, whereupon the countess induces a family friend to seduce the girl and destroy the count's dream of love..but he is aroused to memories of his first and only true love and in despair he invites a duel and certain death. And the rehearsal goes on.