L'Hôtel du Libre-Échange

L'Hôtel du Libre-Échange follows the peregrinations of two couples of friends, the Pinglets and the Paillardin, caught up in a delirious theatrical machine, whose fuel is, of course, adultery. Adultery is all the more inescapable given that Monsieur Pinglet and Madame Paillardin have an overflowing sexuality, and their spouses... not so much. From this basic premise, the cards are reshuffled ad infinitum by a wild Feydeau, manufacturer of all kinds of pitfalls. This ballet of unfulfillment - because sleeping together here seems utopian - brings along an unlikely partner in its dance: a family friend, freshly arrived from Valenciennes with his four daughters just out of the convent. The hotel de passe where all this little world ends up, amidst zany employees and policemen, becomes the setting for an extravagant, dare we say headless, frenzy... Stanislas Nordey is better known for his work in the contemporary repertoire than in vaudeville, yet he has already directed Feydeau, with a hilarious and poetic Puce à l'oreille, set in the style of Jarry. Accompanied by the same artistic partners, set designer Emmanuel Clolus, choreographer Loïc Touzé, and costume designer Raoul Fernandez, he takes fourteen actors and actresses through this bourgeois world gone mad, and on an assault on the distinctive language of vaudeville.