Farce
Encyclopedia
In theatre
, a farce is a comedy
which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity
, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play
, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene. Farces are often highly incomprehensible plot-wise (due to the large number of plot twists and random events that often occur), but viewers are encouraged to try not to follow the plot in order to not become confused and overwhelmed. Farce is also characterized by physical humor
, the use of deliberate absurdity
or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances. Farces have been written for the stage and film.
Japan has a centuries-old tradition of farce plays called Kyōgen
. These plays are performed as comic relief during the long, serious Noh
plays.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, a farce is a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity
Mistaken identity
Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendant, when in fact the person seen by the witness was...
, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene. Farces are often highly incomprehensible plot-wise (due to the large number of plot twists and random events that often occur), but viewers are encouraged to try not to follow the plot in order to not become confused and overwhelmed. Farce is also characterized by physical humor
Physical comedy
Physical comedy, also known as slapstick, is a comedic performance relying mostly on the use of the body to convey humour.Physical comedy, whether conveyed by a pratfall , a silly face, or the action of walking into walls, is a common and rarely subtle form of comedy...
, the use of deliberate absurdity
Absurdity
An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., “this encyclopedia article is absurd”. It derives from the Latin absurdusm meaning "out of tune", hence...
or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances. Farces have been written for the stage and film.
Japan has a centuries-old tradition of farce plays called Kyōgen
Kyogen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, on the same Noh stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen...
. These plays are performed as comic relief during the long, serious Noh
Noh
, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...
plays.
Britain
- AnonymusAnonymusAnonymus is the Latin spelling of anonymous. This Latin spelling, however, is traditionally used by scholars in the humanities to refer to any ancient writer whose name is not known, or to a manuscript of their work...
: The Second Shepherds' PlayThe Second Shepherds' PlayThe Second Shepherds' Play is a famous medieval mystery play which is contained in the manuscript HM1, the unique manuscript of the Wakefield Cycle. It gained its name because in the manuscript it immediately follows another nativity play involving the shepherds...
(14th century) - Chaucer: "The Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
" (14th century) - William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
: The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
(ca.1592) - Aphra BehnAphra BehnAphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
: The RoverThe Rover (play)The Rover or The Banish'd Cavaliers is a play in two parts written by the English author Aphra Behn.Having famously worked as a spy for Charles II against the Dutch, Behn's meager incomes was lost when the king refused to pay her expenses. She turned to writing for an income.The Rover premiered...
(1677) - Henry FieldingHenry FieldingHenry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
: The Author's FarceThe Author's FarceThe Author's Farce and the Pleasures of the Town is a play by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding, first performed on 30 March 1730 at the Little Theatre, Haymarket. Written in response to the Theatre Royal's rejection of his earlier plays, The Author's Farce was Fielding's...
(1730) - Arthur MurphyArthur MurphyArthur Murphy , also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.-Biography:He was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French....
: The Citizen (1761) - Samuel FooteSamuel FooteSamuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall.-Early life:Born into a well-to-do family, Foote was baptized in Truro, Cornwall on 27 January 1720. His father, John Foote, held several public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing...
: The Liar (1762) - Elizabeth InchbaldElizabeth InchbaldElizabeth Inchbald was an English novelist, actress, and dramatist.- Life :Born on 15 October 1753 at Standingfield, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Elizabeth was the eighth of the nine children of John Simpson , a farmer, and his wife Mary, née Rushbrook. The family, like several others in the...
: Appearance Is Against Them (1785); The Wedding Day (1794) - John Maddison MortonJohn Maddison MortonJohn Maddison Morton was an English playwright who specialized in one-act farces. His most famous farce was Box and Cox . He also wrote comic dramas, pantomimes and other theatrical pieces.-Biography:...
: Box and CoxBox and CoxBox and Cox is a one act farce by John Maddison Morton. It is based on a French one-act vaudeville, Frisette, which had been produced in Paris in 1846....
(1847) - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
: The Lamplighter (1879) - Arthur Wing PineroArthur Wing PineroSir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
: The Magistrate (1885) - Brandon ThomasBrandon ThomasWalter Brandon Thomas was an English actor, playwright and song writer, best known as the author of the farce Charley's Aunt....
: Charley's AuntCharley's AuntCharley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
(1892) - Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
: The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
(1895) - Ben TraversBen TraversBen Travers AFC CBE in London) was a British playwright best remembered for his farces.Born in the London borough of Hendon, Travers was educated at Charterhouse, where today there is a theatre named for him...
: Thark (1927) - Noel CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
: Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
(1925); Present LaughterPresent LaughterPresent Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
(1939); Blithe SpiritBlithe Spirit (play)Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
(1941) - Thornton WilderThornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
: The MatchmakerThe MatchmakerThe Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder.The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
(1954) - Philip KingPhilip King (playwright)Philip King, a British playwright and actor, was born in Yorkshire in 1904. He is best known as the author of the farce See How They Run . He lived in Brighton and many of his plays were first produced in nearby Worthing. He continued to act throughout his writing career, often appearing in his...
: See How They Run (1945) Big Bad MouseBig Bad MouseBig Bad Mouse is a frequently revived 1960s British stage play and theatrical comedic farce that, although not specifically written for them, became famous as a loose vehicle for the many talents of the British comedy actors Jimmy Edwards and Eric Sykes and has constantly seen various revivals with...
(1957) Pools Paradise (1961) - Peter ShafferPeter ShafferSir Peter Levin Shaffer is an English dramatist and playwright, screenwriter and author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.-Early life:...
: Black Comedy (1965) - Joe OrtonJoe OrtonJohn Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
: LootLoot (play)Loot is a two-act play by the English playwright Joe Orton. The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
(1967) What the Butler SawWhat the Butler Saw (play)What the Butler Saw is a farce written by English playwright Joe Orton. It premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year before....
(1969) - Michael PertweeMichael PertweeMichael Pertwee was a British playwright and screenwriter. Among his credits were episodes of The Saint, Danger Man, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, B-And-B, Ladies Who Do, and many other films and TV series....
: Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! is a 1973 British film based on the popular "Whitehall Farce" written by Michael Pertwee, who also wrote the screenplay.-Plot summary:...
(1971) - Anthony MarriottAnthony MarriottAnthony Marriott is an actor and playwright notable for being joint author, with Alistair Foot of the comedy No Sex Please, We're British which opened at the Strand Theatre, London, in 1971. It has been performed in 52 countries and which on 21 February 1979 became the longest running comedy in...
& Alistair Foot: No Sex Please, We're BritishNo Sex Please, We're BritishNo Sex Please, We're British is a British comedic play written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, first staged in London's West End in 1971. It was unanimously panned by critics, but still ran for nearly a decade to packed audiences...
(1975) - John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
& Connie BoothConnie BoothConstance "Connie" Booth is an American-born writer and actress, known for appearances on British television and particularly for her portrayal of Polly Sherman in the popular 1970s television show Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese.-Biography:Booth's father was a...
: Fawlty TowersFawlty TowersFawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
(1975) - John ChapmanJohn ChapmanJohn Chapman may refer to :*Sir John Chapman, 2nd Baronet , British Member of Parliament for Taunton, 1741–1747*John Chapman , United States Representative from Pennsylvania...
& Anthony MarriottAnthony MarriottAnthony Marriott is an actor and playwright notable for being joint author, with Alistair Foot of the comedy No Sex Please, We're British which opened at the Strand Theatre, London, in 1971. It has been performed in 52 countries and which on 21 February 1979 became the longest running comedy in...
: Shut Your Eyes and Think of England (1977) - Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
: Taking StepsTaking StepsTaking Steps is a 1979 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It is set on three floors of an old and reputedly haunted house, with the stage arranged so that the stairs are flat and all three floors are on a single level...
(1979) - Derek BenfieldDerek BenfieldDerek Benfield was a British playwright and actor.He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce Running Riot and the second actor who played Patricia Routledge's character's husband in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
: Touch and Go (1982) - Michael FraynMichael FraynMichael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
: Noises OffNoises OffNoises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
(1982) - Nigel WilliamsNigel Williams (author)Nigel Williams is an English novelist, screenwriter and playwright.-Biography:He was educated at Highgate School and Oriel College, Oxford, is married with three sons and lives in Putney, south-west London...
: W.C.P.C. (1982) - Ken FriedmanKen FriedmanKen Friedman, is a seminal figure in Fluxus, an international laboratory for experimental art, architecture, design, literature, and music. He had his first solo exhibition in New York in 1966. He has also been involved with mail art, and he has written extensively about Fluxus and Intermedia...
: Claptrap (1983) - Andrew NorrissAndrew NorrissAndrew Norriss is a British children's author and a writer for television .- Background :Andrew Norriss was born in 1947, was educated at St John’s School, Leatherhead followed by University at Trinity College Dublin 1966-70. PGCE 1973-4. He taught at Stroud School, Romsey and then Peter Symonds...
and Richard Fegen: Chance in a MillionChance in a MillionChance in a Million was a British sitcom broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4.The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn....
(1984) - Miles TredinnickMiles TredinnickMiles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screen writer. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London. Afterwards he went on to write comedy plays for the stage...
: Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami!Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami!Laugh? I Nearly Went to Miami! is a stage comedy by Miles Tredinnick. It was first produced in Hampstead, London, in 1985 and published the following year by Samuel French Ltd. The original cast starred Russell Wootton and Jill Greenacre. It has been translated into many languages and is regularly...
(1986) - Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
: A Small Family BusinessA Small Family BusinessA Small Family Business is a play by Alan Ayckbourn, based around the business of the title and dealing with the Thatcherism of the time. It premiered at the Olivier stage of the Royal National Theatre on 20 May 1987, where it won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for that year...
(1987) - Miles TredinnickMiles TredinnickMiles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screen writer. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London. Afterwards he went on to write comedy plays for the stage...
: It’s Now Or Never! (1991) - Tom KempinskiTom KempinskiTom Kempinski is an English playwright and actor. He is best known for his 1980 play Duet for One, which was a major success in London and New York and which has been much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenplay for the movie version of Duet for One...
: Sex Please, We're Italian! (1991) - Ray CooneyRay CooneyRaymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE is an English playwright and actor. His biggest success, Run for Your Wife, lasted nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 of his plays performed there....
: Funny MoneyFunny MoneyFunny Money is a farce written by Ray Cooney. It premièred at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley, London, England, in 1994, followed by a successful two-year run in the West End. Cooney directed his own play and also played the part of Henry Perkins...
(1994) - Robin Hawdon: Perfect Wedding (1994)
- Steven MoffatSteven MoffatSteven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
: CouplingCoupling (UK TV series)Coupling is a British television sitcom written by Steven Moffat that aired on BBC2 from May 2000 to June 2004. Produced by Hartswood Films for the BBC, the show centres on the dating and sexual adventures and mishaps of six friends in their thirties, often depicting the three women and the three...
(2001) - Miles TredinnickMiles TredinnickMiles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screen writer. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London. Afterwards he went on to write comedy plays for the stage...
: Up Pompeii!Up Pompeii!Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...
(2011)
France
- The Boy and the Blind Man, 13th century, oldest written French farce.
- La Farce de maître Pierre PathelinLa Farce de maître Pierre PathelinLa Farce de maître Pierre Pathelin is a fifteenth-century anonymous medieval farce written originally in French. It was extraordinarily popular in its day, and held an influence on popular theatre for over a century...
(c. 1457) - MolièreMolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
: TartuffeTartuffeTartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
(1664) - Labiche: La Cagnotte (1864)and other plays.
- Alfred HennequinAlfred HennequinAlfred Hennequin was a Belgian dramatist who had a successful career as a writer of comedies. He is recognised as one of the innovators in the genre of farce. Georges Feydeau, whose name is synonymous with French farce, publicly acknowledged his debt to Hennequin...
and Alfred Delacour: Le Procès VeauradieuxLe Procès VeauradieuxLe Procès Veauradieux is an 1875 farce written by Alfred Hennequin and Alfred Delacour. It was one of the major successes of Hennequin's career and is said to have inspired Dion Boucicault's comedy Forbidden Fruit. It was revived in London to critical acclaim in 2010 at the Orange Tree Theatre...
(1875) - Georges FeydeauGeorges FeydeauGeorges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
: Le DindonLe DindonLe Dindon , is a French comedy film from 1951, directed by Claude Barma, written by Georges Feydeau, starring by Nadine Alari and Louis de Funès...
(1896) (aka Sauce for the Goose) - Octave MirbeauOctave MirbeauOctave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
: Farces et moralités (1904). - Georges FeydeauGeorges FeydeauGeorges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
: A Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her Ear is a play by Georges Feydeau written in 1907, at the height of the Belle Époque.-Plot:...
(1907) - Marc Camoletti: Boeing BoeingBoeing Boeing (play)Boeing-Boeing is a classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years...
(1960) and Pyjama pour Six (1985) (aka Don't Dress for DinnerDon't Dress for DinnerDon't Dress for Dinner is a two-act play by French playwright Marc Camoletti. It's a sequel to Camoletti's other play Boeing Boeing. The play ran in Paris for a little more than two years under the name Pyjamas Pour Six, and also ran in London starring Simon Cadell and Su Pollard.- Characters...
) http://www.theatresprives.com/francais/auteurs/biocamoletti.html - Jean PoiretJean PoiretJean Poiret, born Jean Poiré, was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. He is primarily known as the author of the original play La Cage Aux Folles. Jean Poiret was born in Paris, France, where he died of a heart attack in 1992...
: La Cage aux FollesLa Cage aux Folles (play)La Cage aux Folles is a 1973 French farce by Jean Poiret centering on confusion that ensues when Laurent, the son of a Saint Tropez night club owner and his gay lover, brings his fiancée's ultraconservative parents for dinner. The original French production premiered at the Théâtre du...
(1973)
Germany
- Carl Laufs & Wilhelm Jacoby: Pension Schöller (1890)
- Franz Arnold & Ernst Bach: Weekend im Paradies (1928) http://www.felix-bloch-erben.de/play.php/nav/kata/iPlayId/1556/fbe/101
- Miles TredinnickMiles TredinnickMiles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screen writer. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London. Afterwards he went on to write comedy plays for the stage...
with Ursula Lyn and Adolf Opel: ...Und Morgen Fliegen Wir Nach Miami (1987)
Italy
- Dario FoDario FoDario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
: Morte accidentale di un anarchico also known as Accidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
was first played on December 5, 1970 in Varese, Italy
Poland
- Gabriela ZapolskaGabriela ZapolskaMaria Gabriela Stefania Korwin-Piotrowska , known as Gabriela Zapolska, was a Polish novelist, playwright, naturalist writer, feuilletonist, theatre critic and stage actress. Zapolska wrote 41 plays, 23 novels, 177 short stories, 252 works of journalism, one film script, and over 1,500...
: The Morality of Mrs. Dulska, 1906 - Sławomir Mrożek: Tango, 1964 (translation: Grove Press, New York, 1968); Emigranci (The Émigrés), 1974
Russia
- Nikolai GogolNikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
The Government Inspector (also translated as The Inspector General) - Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
A Marriage ProposalA Marriage ProposalA Marriage Proposal is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888-1889 and first performed in 1890...
and The BearThe Bear (play)The Bear , or The Boor, is a one act comedic play written by Russian author Anton Chekhov. The play was originally dedicated to Nikolai Nikolaevich Solovtsov, Chekhov's boyhood friend and director/actor who first played the character Smirnov.... - Mikhail BulgakovMikhail BulgakovMikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
The Master and MargaritaThe Master and MargaritaThe Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil to the fervently atheistic Soviet Union. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and one of the foremost Soviet satires, directed against a...
United States
- Good Neighbor SamGood Neighbor SamGood Neighbor Sam is a 1964 American comedy movie co-written and directed by David Swift and starring Jack Lemmon and Romy Schneider.It was based on the novel by Jack Finney. The screenplay was the motion picture debut of James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, who had written many American...
, starring Jack LemmonJack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June... - Is He Dead?Is He Dead?Is He Dead? is a play by Mark Twain. It was first published in print in 2003, after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. The play was long known to scholars but never attracted much...
, Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist... - The Three Stooges
- Joseph KesselringJoseph KesselringJoseph Otto Kesselring was an American writer and playwright known best for his play Arsenic and Old Lace, written in 1939 and originally entitled "Bodies in Our Cellar." He was born in New York City to Henry and Frances Kesselring. His father's parents were immigrants from Germany. His mother was...
: Arsenic and Old LaceArsenic and Old Lace (play)Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on January 10, 1941. On September 25, 1943, the...
(1941) - The Mating SeasonThe Mating Season (film)The Mating Season is a 1951 classic farce with elements of screwball comedy. A film made by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Charles Brackett, Richard Breen and Walter Reisch, based on the play Maggie by Caesar Dunn...
dir.Mitchell LeisenMitchell LeisenMitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.-Film career:He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments... - Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, book by Larry GelbartLarry GelbartLarry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
(1962) - Abe BurrowsAbe BurrowsAbe Burrows was a Tony and Pulitzer-winning American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage.-Early years:...
: Cactus Flower - Neil SimonNeil SimonNeil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
: RumorsRumorsRumors is a farcical play by Neil Simon.At its start, several affluent couples gather in the posh suburban residence of a couple for a dinner party celebrating their hosts' tenth anniversary. When they arrive, they discover there are no servants, the hostess is missing, and the host - the deputy...
(1988) - Lend Me a TenorLend Me a TenorLend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End and Broadway . Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in...
(1989) - Oscar (1991 film)Oscar (1991 film)Oscar is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake of the 1967 film of the same name, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era New York City and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight...
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...
- Freaky Friday (1976 film)Freaky Friday (1976 film)Freaky Friday is a 1976 American comedy film starring Jodie Foster as Annabel Andrews and Barbara Harris as her mother.The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, in which mother and daughter switch bodies and get a taste of each others' lives. The cause of the switch is left...
- The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney film about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed into an Old English Sheepdog by an enchanted ring of the Borgias. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten...
- Monkey Business (1931 film)Monkey Business (1931 film)Monkey Business is a 1931 comedy film. It is the third of the Marx Brothers' released movies, and the first not to be an adaptation of one of their Broadway shows. The film stars the four brothers: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx, and screen comedienne Thelma Todd. It is...
- The Bank DickThe Bank DickThe Bank Dick is a 1940 comedy film. W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé who trips a bank robber and ends up a security guard as a result...
- What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
- The Computer Wore Tennis ShoesThe Computer Wore Tennis ShoesThe Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a Disney film from 1969, starring Alan Hewitt, Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It is released by Buena Vista Distribution Company....
- The NerdThe NerdThe Nerd is a two-act comedy written by American actor/playwright Larry Shue.-Plot:Set in Terre Haute, Indiana in late 1979, The Nerd presents the story of Willum Cubbert, an unassuming young architect, friends Tansy and Axel and unexpected houseguest Rick, who had saved Willum's life in Vietnam...
(1981) by Larry ShueLarry ShueLarry Shue was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two often-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner.-Early life:... - The Foreigner (play)The Foreigner (play)The Foreigner is a play by Larry Shue.Set in a resort-style fishing lodge in rural Georgia, the comedy revolves around two of its guests, Englishman Charlie Baker and Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Charlie is so pathologically shy that he is unable to speak...
(1983) by Larry ShueLarry ShueLarry Shue was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two often-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner.-Early life:... - Ferris Bueller's Day OffFerris Bueller's Day OffFerris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...
- Now You See Him, Now You Don'tNow You See Him, Now You Don'tNow You See Him, Now You Don't is a 1972 Walt Disney film starring Kurt Russell, a student at the fictional Medfield College. It is the sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes....
- The Million Dollar DuckThe Million Dollar DuckThe Million Dollar Duck is a 1971 Disney comedy film that was directed by Vincent McEveety, and stars Dean Jones, Sandy Duncan and Joe Flynn.-Plot:...
- Million Dollar MysteryMillion Dollar MysteryMillion Dollar Mystery is a 1987 American film released with a promotional tie-in for Glad-Lock brand bags. While performing a routine stunt for this film, legendary stuntman Dar Robinson lost his life on November 21, 1986...
- Rat Race (2001 film)
- The Love BugThe Love BugThe Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie...
- Herbie Rides AgainHerbie Rides AgainHerbie Rides Again is a 1974 comedy film. It is the sequel to The Love Bug, released six years earlier, and the second in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions starring an anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie...
- 101 Dalmatians (1996 film)
- Home AloneHome AloneHome Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...
- The Pink Panther (1963 film)The Pink Panther (1963 film)The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine, and Claudia Cardinale...
- Never give a sucker an even breakNever Give a Sucker an Even BreakNever Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W.C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis". Fields plays himself, searching for a chance to promote a surreal screenplay he has written, whose several framed sequences...
- No Deposit, No ReturnNo Deposit, No ReturnNo Deposit, No Return is a 1976 comedy film directed by Norman Tokar. It was written by Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson. It is the story of two children who hold themselves for ransom, reluctantly aided by an expert safecracker and his sidekick .-Cast:*David Niven - J.W...
- Problem Child (1990 film)Problem Child (1990 film)Problem Child is a 1990 American comedy film. It stars John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Gilbert Gottfried, Jack Warden, Michael Richards and Michael Oliver. The film was directed by Dennis Dugan.-Plot:...
- The HangoverThe HangoverThe Hangover is the second solo album by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, released in 1997.-Track listing:All tracks by Clarke unless otherwise stated.# "Wasn't Yesterday Great" – 2:45# "It's Good Enough for Rock N' Roll" – 3:12...
- Leading LadiesLeading LadiesLeading Ladies is a theatrical comedy play by Ken Ludwig.-Synopsis:Set in York, Pennsylvania in 1958, this farce centers on two down-on-their-luck Shakespearean actors, Leo Clark and Jack Gable...
(2004)
US Television
- I Love LucyI Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
- Three's CompanyThree's CompanyThree's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
(1977-1984) - 3rd Rock From The Sun3rd Rock from the Sun3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet...
(1996–2001) - Larry DavidLarry DavidLawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
: Curb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
(1999–present) - Arrested Development (2003-2006)
- FrasierFrasierFrasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
(1993-2004) - The Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
(2007–present)
Animated
- SpongeBob SquarePantsSpongeBob SquarePantsSpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
(1999–present) - Chowder (TV series)Chowder (TV series)Chowder is an American animated television series which ran from November 2, 2007 to August 7, 2010 on Cartoon Network. The series was created by C. H...
- The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
- The Marvelous Misadventures of FlapjackThe Marvelous Misadventures of FlapjackThe Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is an American animated television series produced for Cartoon Network that premiered on June 5, 2008 and ended on August 31, 2010...
- The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
- South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
- Codename: Kids Next DoorCodename: Kids Next DoorCodename: Kids Next Door, also known as Kids Next Door or by its acronym KND, is an American animated television series created by Tom Warburton and produced by Curious Pictures in Santa Monica, California.. The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 6, 2002 and aired its final episode on...
- Chicken RunChicken RunChicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
- Looney TunesLooney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
- Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
External links
- IMDB list of film and television farces
- Farce films at Allmovie