About the work
Comedy in three acts by Georges Feydeau, first performed on 9 January 1894 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The play launched an unbroken run of successes for Feydeau and is considered one of the high points of classic French vaudeville.
Plot
The man-about-town Fernand de Bois d'Enghien wants to break free of his mistress, the singer Lucette Gautier, in order to marry a wealthy heiress befitting his social ambitions. When Lucette refuses to let him go and turns up at his fiancée's engagement party of all places, Fernand's attempt to escape the old affair spirals into an increasingly chaotic tangle of coincidence and mistaken identity.
Cultural significance
On the evening of the premiere, Feydeau was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour — rare proof of how quickly this play won him recognition as a still-young author. Un fil à la patte remains one of the most frequently performed works of classic French boulevard theatre.