Queens of France

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Queens of France

Short Play, Comedy  /  3w, 1m, 2any gender (adult)

Thornton Wilder

In Wilder's short comedy, a charlatan preys on vulnerable women, convincing each that she is a descendant of the Dauphin and is therefore the rightful Queen of France.

Queens of France

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 1m, 2any gender (adult)
  • Duration
    Duration
    30 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Farce, Parody / Spoof
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences, Adult, Senior, Children (Age 6 - 10), Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Queens of France

Details

Summary
In New Orleans in 1869, M'su Cahusac, a charlatan of a lawyer, preys on vulnerable women, convincing each one that she is a legitimate descendant of the long-lost Dauphin, who fled Paris for New Orleans at the age of 10 during the French Revolution. Therefore, he tells each victim she is the rightful Queen of France. Tantalized by visions of wealth, palaces and power, each victim responds in her own fashion to this preposterous revelation, which the lawyer claims is supported by the Historical Society of Paris.
History
The first licensed production of Queens of France was presented on March 9, 1932, at the Hill School in Pottsdown, Pennsylvania, and at the Miss Masters' School (Wilder's mother's alma mater) in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Keywords
Performing Groups
MARIE–SIDONIE CRESSAUX – an attractive young woman
M’SU CAHUSAC – a lawyer
MADAME PUGEO – a plump little bourgeois
MAMSELLE POINTEVIN – a spinster

Two extras - a boy and an old woman

  • Time Period 19th Century
  • Setting A lawyer's office in New Orleans, 1869.
  • Features Elaborate / High Volume Costumes, Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Local Celebrity Cameo, No intermission
  • Duration 30 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

“Sheer delight to any reader.” – Chicago Daily Tribune

“Queens of France has so rich and gay a theme, and is done with such a superbly delicate, light touch as to make it sheer delight to any reader.” – Fanny Butcher, Chicago Daily Tribune, November 13, 1931

“The pride that goes before the fall. A play that will have the pattern of Queens of France. A 'victim' of a practical joke seen – in four successive persons – in four stages of his delusion.” – Thornton Wilder, journal note on new ideas for plays, May 16, 1960

Videos

  • Thornton Wilder: It's Time youtube thumbnail

    Thornton Wilder: It's Time

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $75 per performance
    $125 with other plays in collection
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Authors

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one ...

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