Arts and Manners

The Merits of Farce

Georges Feydeau, the author of Hotel Paradiso, is a greater playwright than Mr. Tennessee Williams for the simple reason that he has no self-pity and takes his plays far more seriously than himself. Hotel Paradiso was written seventy years ago; and in its current production this venerable bedroom farce, much to its own surprise, carries a message. To wit: man’s naughtiness is funny, and even presentable, only when divested of its last shred of self-importance. I propose, in discussing a pleasurable evening on Broadway, to discuss this major law of esthetics.