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Was there more to medieval and Renaissance comedy than Chaucer and Shakespeare? Bien sûr. For a real taste of saucy early European humor, one must cross the Channel to France. There, in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the sophisticated met the scatological in popular performances presented by roving troupes in public squares that skewered sex, politics, and religion. For centuries, the scripts for these outrageous, anonymously written shows were available only in French editions gathered from scattered print and manuscript sources. Now prize-winning theater historian Jody Enders brings twelve of the funniest of these farces to contemporary English-speaking audiences in "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries. Enders's translation captures the full richness of the colorful characters, irreverent humor, and over-the-top plotlines, all in a refreshingly uncensored American vernacular.
Those who have never heard the one about the Cobbler, the Monk, the Wife, and the Gatekeeper should prepare to be shocked and entertained. "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries is populated by hilarious characters high and low. For medievalists, theater practitioners, and classic comedy lovers alike, Enders provides a wealth of information about the plays and their history. Helpful details abound for each play about plot, character development, sets, staging, costumes, and props. This performance-friendly collection offers in-depth guidance to actors, directors, dramaturges, teachers, and their students.
"The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries puts fifteenth-century French farce in its rightful place alongside Chaucer, Shakespeare, commedia dell'arte, and Molière—not to mention Monty Python. Vive la Farce!
On Abbreviations Short Titles, Notes, and Bibliography
Preface
Introduction
—History, Development, and the Actors of the Basoche
—Performance and Performance Records
—The Question of Genre
About This Translation
—Editions and Printed Sources
—Critical Apparatus
—Stage Directions
—Prose, Verse, and Music
—Repetition and Repetitiveness
—Language and Style
Brief Plot Summaries
THE PLAYS
Actors' Prologue
1. The Farce of the Fart [Farce nouvelle et fort joyeuse du Pect]
2. The Edict of Noée, or, Shut Up! It's the Farce of the Rights of Women [Farce des Drois de la Porte Bodès]
3. Confession Lessons, or, The Farce of the Lusty Husband Who Makes His Confession to a Woman, His Neighbor, Who Is Disguised as a Priest [Farce de celuy qui se confesse à sa voisine]
4. The Farce of the Student Who Failed His Priest Exam because He Didn't Know Who Was Buried in Grant's Tomb [Farce du Clerc qui fut refusé à estre prestre]
5. Blind Man's Buff, or, The Farce of "The Chokester" [Farce du Goguelu]
6. Playing Doctor, or, Taking the Plunge (The Farce of the Woman Whose Neighbor Gives Her an Enema) [Farce d'une Femme à qui son Voisin baille ung clistoire]
7. At Cross Purposes, or, The Farce of the Three Lovers of the Cross [Farce de trois Amoureux de la Croix]
8. Shit for Brains, or, The Party Pooper-Scooper [Farce de Tarabin-Tarabas]
9. Monk-ey Business, or, A Marvelous New Farce for Four Actors, to Wit, the Cobbler, the Monk, the Wife, and the Gatekeeper [Le Savetier, le Moyne, la Femme, et le Portier]
10. Getting Off on the Wrong Foot, or, Who's Minding the Whore? for Three Actors, to Wit, the Lover Minding the Store, the Cobbler, and His Wife [Farce de Celuy qui garde les Patins]
11. Cooch E. Whippet, or, The Farce of Martin of Cambray [Farce de Martin de Cambray]
12. Birdbrain: A Musical Comedy? or, School Is for the Birds [Farce joyeuse de Maistre Mimin]
Appendix: Scholarly References to Copyrighted Materials
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments