An young man in a hurry

an young man in a hurry is a light comedy in an act of Eugene Labiche, represented for the first time at Paris with the Théâtre of the Palais Royal the March 4th 1848 and published in the Éditions Michel Levy brothers.

It is the first and one of the four rare parts (on 174) which Labiche wrote only, without collaborator of which:

an young man in a hurry
a boy from Véry
the Small Voyage
29 degrees in the shade

Summary

Dardard is an young man in a hurry. He does not hesitate to awake Pontbichet at 2 o'clock in the morning to ask for the hand of his daughter to him. He has just seen it with the spectacle, he followed his hackney carriage, he is decided, he wants the épouser.
Pontbichet, first of all flabbergasted, then hostile, and finally threatening, however will end up being let subjugate by energy, the insurance, the commercial genius deployed by the intruder. The talk of Dardard, explaining how it will begin there to dispatch in England 40.000 pairs of gloves, without paying the customs duties and the port of it, truly dazzled it: it accepts the demand for mariage.
It was to forget that he had already promised the hand of his daughter with Collardeau, a species of placid simpleton, who places là.
The situation still becomes complicated when Dardard realizes that Miss Pontbichet is a real ugly duckling (it was mistaken in hackney carriage), and that Collardeau allowed some freedoms with it as been engaged official. And Dardard already gave, as guarantee of its determination, a receipt of the dowry without to have still touched it!
Fortunately, it is a light comedy (Labiche recalls it to us in the dialogs), and intrigues it can untie itself only favorably.

Some counterparts

Pontbichet, awaked in middle of the night by believer and rings to a fire:

- “That devil! give me time to pass pants. (Share has.) These firemen are of an impatience. ” Scene I

- “Bordeaux has, when one distinguishes an young girl with the spectacle, one gets informed neither about its row, neither of its name, nor of its sex…” Scene I

- “In businesses, I am serious like an owl. ” Scene IV

Small wink of the author who perhaps expresses his feeling by the way of Dardard:

- “I have light comedies of horror! … it is always the same thing; the light comedy is art to make yes say to the dad of the young lady who said not . Hold, in this moment we play a light comedy of it… You known as not ; eh well, you will yes say … to the end. ” Scene IV

- “I gave you my word, but I take it again, as very gentleman must do it. ” Scene VI

Comments

This part entered to the repertory of the Comédie-Française on January 24th, 1959.

Distribution

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