About the work
Der Schlafwagen-Kontrolleur is a three-act farce by the French playwright Alexandre Bisson, originally titled Le Contrôleur des wagons-lits. It premiered on 11 March 1898 at the Théâtre des Nouveautés in Paris, followed by its German-language premiere in 1899 at Berlin's Residenztheater.
Plot
Parisian Georges Godefroid invents a job as a sleeping-car conductor so he can secretly visit his mistress in the countryside, deceiving both his family and hers. When a real conductor named Alfred Godefroid turns up complaining that his name has been misused, Georges's double life unravels into farcical complications.
Cultural significance
The farce was one of the most successful boulevard comedies of its era, running for 278 performances in Berlin. It was filmed three times (1912, 1935, 1971) and inspired Franz Lehár's operetta Der Mann mit den drei Frauen (1908).