L'Hôtel du libre échange

L'Hôtel du Libre échange ((French): Free Exchange Hotel) is a comedy written by the French playwrights Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières in 1894. The play takes place in Paris in the 19th century, and follows two Parisian households and their friends over the course of two days. The play has three acts; acts one and three take place in Monsieur Pinglet's office, while act two takes place in Hôtel du Libre échange, a small Paris hotel. The play has been translated into several other languages.

The author's works have been seen as a precursor to surrealistic comedy; some elements of this genre are present in this play. Much of the humour is derived from classic comedy of mistaken identities, and the complications that arise from this.

The vaudeville was first performed at the Théâtre des Nouveautés, Paris on 5 December 1894, where it had an immediate nine-month run.

The play is about two people who wish to engage in an extramarital affair. They check into a small, discreet Parisian hotel where they wish to spend the night, but complications arise and the couple never manage to exchange as much as a kiss.

The play opens in Monsieur Pinglet's office. He is visited by several people, including his neighbour Paillardin's wife, Marcelle, whom he persuades to spend the night with him in a hotel in town. Pinglet arranges for his maid to follow Paillardin's nephew to philosophy school, as the boy is easily lost on his own.

Pinglet's wife Angelique comes on stage to declare to Pinglet that she will not be home for dinner; she has to spend the night out of town. She then shows Pinglet some hotel brochures she has been sent in the mail. She is disgusted by the brochures, but Pinglet is excited and decides to go to the advertised hotel with Marcelle.

Mathieu, an old friend of the Pinglets, comes for a visit. Mathieu, who suffers from a speech impediment when it rains, announces that he intends to stay at the Pinglets' house for a month. The Pinglets are horrified, especially at the arrival of Mathieu's four daughters, who also intend to stay there. Angelique initiates an argument with Pinglet in front of Mathieu, which prompts Mathieu to leave. Before leaving, however, he hears Pinglet and Marcelle discussing the hotel they are going to, and decides to sleep there for the night.

After this, Pinglet tells Angelique that he intends to eat at a restaurant. Angelique does not want him to eat out alone, and so locks him in his office. Pinglet, however, takes out a rope ladder and climbs out of the window.

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