Frou-Frou (play)

Frou-Frou is an English adaptation of a French comedic play of the same name. The title role has been played by many actors, notably Sarah Bernhardt, Madame Modjeska, and Ellen Terry.

The French expression frou-frou refers to the rustle of silk, perhaps onomatopoeic, hence a fondness for fine clothing.[1]

History

The original play, often spelled Froufrou, was written in five acts by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy in 1869, expressly for Mlle Aimée Desclée (1836–1874).[2]

An early translation by Sutherland Edwards of the Pall Mall Gazette, as produced at the Olympic Theatre, London, was brought to Australia by Daniel E. Bandmann, and produced as Frou-Frou, or, Love and Fashion at the Royal Victoria Theatre by Wilson and Habbe, and opened on 26 September 1870.[3] Mrs Mary Gladstane alternated with Mrs Bandmann in the role of Gilberte Brigarde, the "Frou-Frou" of the title.

A later adaptation, by J. Comyns Carr, opened in Glasgow in September 1879, with Miss Ellen Terry in the title role. In 1881 Modjeska appeared at the Princess's Theatre, London in a revised version, also by Carr, and this is believed to be the version first presented in Sydney on 26 July 1890 at the Criterion Theatre. In this production, Janet Achurch played Gilberte; Charles Charrington (in real life husband of Janet Achurch) took the part of Monsieur Brigard, played by G. W. Anson to Madame Modjeska's Gilberte. G. S. Titheradge played the serious yet warm-hearted Harry de Sartorys and Herbert Flemming the handsome Paul de Valreas.[2]

References
  1. "Silk Frocks that Rustle". The Globe (55). New South Wales, Australia. 17 April 1912. p. 11. Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "The Criterion Theatre". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. L (1569). New South Wales, Australia. 2 August 1890. p. 271. Retrieved 26 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. LXII (10, 093). New South Wales, Australia. 26 September 1870. p. 8. Retrieved 26 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.


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