Le Rendez- Vous de Senlis by Jean Anouilh

 Le Rendez- Vous de Senlis by Jean Anouilh


Let me see if I got this right-

 

George is a young married man, no longer capable to live with his wife.

He has more than an affair; he falls in love with Isabelle.

In order to seduce her, and perhaps for other psychoanalyzeable reasons, George tells Isabelle quite a few stories about:

-          His friend Robert, who is very worthy in George’s  fiction, but rather despicable in reality

-          The parents that would come for a dinner

In fact, the introduction that I heard today is rather intriguing. The version of the play that I listened to was adapted for the Romanian Radio.

I am not sure how much has been changed from the original, if anything.

George is making the arrangements with a landlady, from whom he is renting a place for which he has to sign an inventory. The play has quite a few humorous moments- the woman is presenting an incredible number of pages (was it 37?) to be signed and accounted for at the end of the lease.

The trouble is they are inaccurate:

-          The paper mentions flowers in the decoration

-          Well…

-          There are no flowers…

-          The material for this piece is not mentioned

-          It isn’t

-          But what if at the end you say it was made of gold?!

George is just teasing, but the preposterous inventory is still amusing. He signs it nevertheless.

A maitre d’hôtel from a nearby locale is presented on stage and he has brought meals for a special diner for four. George talks to him about paying an important amount in order to serve at the table and…pretend that he is an old servant…

-          Would you please say that you played with me on your knees when I was a child?

-          It is strange…

-          I will pay you 400 francs

-          Ok then!

A couple is introduced as actors and their “roles „will be to play the part of George’s parents and they are willing to do that for the right amount of money…including expenses.

We gradually learn about the infatuation of George and the fact that he had invented a friend- Robert and a family. And then a neighbor comes with an urgent and dreadful message for the young man:

-          Do something before eight, or all hell will break loose.

So the audience finds out that George is married to Henriette, who will cause a world of trouble unless…

Isabelle comes in, finding the actors and the maitre d’ in turmoil, upset and complaining about the situation. They act in a terrible way, taking advantage and getting much more money than they bargained for.

The maitre d’hôtel cheats with the bill and asks for 800 francs, taking advantage of the fact that Isabelle does not know what the deal was.

We get acquainted with Barbara, a positive personage, who is married to Robert and acts defending George and his chance to become happy.

Robert proves to be a villain, two-faced little monster who is envious, petty, ungrateful and mean. The Robert that George had invented has nothing in common with his “real friend” except for the name.

I will not say what happens towards the end, but I will mention that I enjoyed the play.

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