French without a master

BY CELEBRATED EUROPEAN AUTHORS
BARRETT H. CLARK
GENERAL EDITOR
a Farce in One Act:
Translated by Barrett H. Clark
Samuel French: Publisher 28-30 West Thirty-eighth Street: New York
Copyright, 1915, By SAMUEL FRENCH
Tristan Bernard stands in much the same relation to contemporary French drama as George Cohan does to that of our own country: in his comedies the most amusing types of the society of the day are set forth with a good-humor and freshness which gives them an individual charm all their own. Many of his numerous plays are broad farces, but there is a philosophical strain running throughout which raises them out of the realm of the purely theatrical. In “On nait esclave” (“Born Slaves”) and “Le Petit Café” (“The Little Café”), for example, we find a serious comment on life; this, however, never interferes with the joyous course of the comedy, but rather forms a background.
One of Bernard’s earliest plays was “L’Anglais tel qu’on le parle,” which is here (necessarily, on account of the fact that English is used in the original text as a foreign language) adapted, for the first time in English. The cleverness of the plot, the character of the interpreter, the brightness of the dialogue, have caused the little farce to be retained in the repertory of the Comédie Française, where it is performed many times every year, with ever-increasing popularity.
Chanoine-Malherbe and Séraphine should speak good French, or at least some approximation which shall sound fluent and easy to the audience. Amateurs are urged not to over-act: this play is one which can easily be over-accentuated. Percy, in particular, should behave throughout as a very quiet and phlegmatic person.
PERSONS REPRESENTED.
Scene:— A small London hotel. Time:— The present.