Ring Round the Moon

by Christopher Fry (adaptation), Jean Anouilh

NYTs Brooks Atkinson called it a work "of many moods... wistfully romantic, satirical, fantastic..." To make his points about love, Anouilh invented a story about twin brothers -- Frederic, shy and sensitive, and Hugo, heartless and aggressive. To save Frederic from an unhappy marriage, Hugo distracts him by bringing to a ball a beautiful dancer who entrances everyone. The twins are played by the same actor. "Beautifully translated with wit and grace and style," said critic George Jean Nathan.

Genres: Plays, France, Drama, School, Theatre

Paperback

First published April 20, 1948

Reviews

[Sketchbook · Rating 3 out of 5]

An imaginative/sumptuous reshaping of the Cinderella story and, earlier, the "Twin Brothers" fable, which began with Plautus. Here, an innocent beauty goes to a party under a false identity because one twin - oozing testostery - has devised a plan to save his wishy-washy bro from an iffy marriage. (Both twins played by same mime).

"I fall in love as a matter of routine," exults the confident Twin. His likeably shy bro explains: "Life only comes to me absentmindedly." ~~ With enhancement from Christopher Fry, Anouilh - in a Lubitschy mode - explores snobbery, money ("It's only worth something to the poor"), love and identity. Which of the Twins is real -- indeed, is anyone real?

In a rococo winter garden, mismatched couples - with fake identity cards - dance the night away (stage version provides music x Poulenc) while facsimiles of Mrs Candour, Tony Lumpkin and Witfull Witwoud pop in/out screwball style. Lovely writing by Christopher Fry of a silly Anouilh "plot," it has never been a commercial success in the US. Too many potentially camp Edwardian dames. Fry calls it a "charade," which is a kindly point-of-view.

[Jon Zelazny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The relentless underlying sourness squelches every pleasure of the mistaken identity farce.

[John Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting is a chateau's winter garden in spring, and the occasion is a ball given by the wealthy, old, sardonic Mme. Desmermortes. Roughly half the characters are caught up in a tug-of-war between their apparent social relationships and their deeper, personal desires: Diana is engaged to Frederic but favors Hugo, who has invited Isabelle to the ball in order to break up those two and who happens to be Frederic's identical twin, while other longed-for or actual affairs swirl around these four. In reading it, I found myself thinking of the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night—there's a similar variety of ages, classes, and passions, all influenced by the intoxication of the night—and it turns out (according to a summary I found here,) that Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince considered adapting this play before settling on Bergman's film as the basis for A Little Night Music.

Ring Round the Moon, translated and retitled by Christopher Fry (the original is called L'Invitation au château,) is exceedingly well crafted and has a certain French romance and sparkle to it. There's a special theatrical charm to the use of a single actor to play both the twins, a ploy which Anouilh plays on with a deft touch at the end. How it fit the cultural environment of Paris after the war—it was first performed in 1947—is a question I'm not equipped to address, but I've seen two American productions of it and was won over both times. What's more, the clarity of the characterizations means that any reader with a bit of practice at visualizing a script will have no trouble keeping Hugo and Frederic straight.

(Side note: I'm working on a script idea that employs twins of a kind, which is why I read this.)

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

We put on this play at my university and I thought the play was a lot of fun with good character roles. I think the play itself is two-dimensional and doesn't really offer any lasting perspective or have elements of timelessness that make it relevant to the world we live in today. Very superficial. It was a fun read and kept my attention, but didn't really offer anything else.

[Misa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite plays and the first one that made discover Anouilh. I loved so much that I read it several times.

[Gabrielle Danoux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frédéric et Horace sont jumeaux et tous les deux amoureux de la même Diana Messerschmann, qui est très riche. Si Frédéric est un amoureux transi, Horace est plus froid et distant, ou plutôt plus coureur. Lady India, cousine des Desmermortes a une liaison avec Patrice Bombelles, le secrétaire de Messerschmann père. Madame Desmermortes a invité tout ce beau monde dans son château. Lady India essaye également de ruiner Messerschmann par la dépense, ce qui s'avère impossible. Horace corrompt Isabelle, une jeune et belle danseuse, pour le bal, afin qu'elle séduise Frédéric. Horace va jusqu'à l'embrasser pour rendre Frédéric jaloux. Il rend Diana jalouse aussi. Elle se bat avec Isabelle et la renvoie. Frédéric en est outré et renonce à elle au profit d'Isabelle. On reçoit des télégrammes sur la ruine de Messerschmann : par conséquent, Lady India l'aime à nouveau et Diana peut aimer Horace. Tout est bien qui finit bien.
Une pièce optimiste, rien à voir avec «Antigone» pour le dénouement. On retrouve les ressorts apparents, la mise en abyme (les personnages disent à la fin que tout doit bien finir). L'effet comique vient du paradoxe sur les valeurs : l'utilisation de la jalousie, l'ironie sur l'argent, considéré comme un fardeau, mais pas sérieusement bien entendu, car dès qu'il est parti, il faut le récupérer, d'ailleurs, on n'a fait que semblant de le perdre.

[Kabir Hossain · Rating 3 out of 5]

এই বইটি ও বইয়ের লেখক সম্পর্কে আমি একদম জানতাম না। চট্টগ্রামের বিখ্যাত বই বিনিমিয় উৎসব থেকে এলোমেলো ভাবে বইটি বিনিময় করে আনি। বাসায় আসার পর দেখি এটি একটি নাটক। ফারাসি নাট্যকার জ্যঁ আনুয়েইর লেখা একটি নাটক।

পড়া শুরু করে, প্রথম দিকে বুঝতে একটিু কষ্ট হলেও ধীরে ধীর কাহিনীতে প্রবেশ করতে থাকি। বুঝতে পারি এটি একটি প্রেমের নাটক। প্রেম বিষয়টি অনিশ্চিত একটি ব্যপার। কখন কার সাথে প্রেম হয়ে যায়, কখন কাকে পছন্দ ও অপছন্দ হয়, সেটা বলা ও বোঝা একটু মুশকিল। বিভিন্ন কারনে খুব পছন্দের ধনী, সুন্দরী ডায়ানাদের বাদ ‍দিয়ে ইজাবেলদের পছন্দ হয়ে যায়। ফিগোদের মত চরিত্র অন্যদের ফাঁসাতে গিয়ে নিজেরাই ফেঁসে যান। ফ্রেদিরিকোরা পেয়ে যান তাদের মনের আসল মানুষ।

প্রেম জটিল। এই নাটক আরও এগুতে থাকলে চিত্রনাট্য আবার বদলে যেতে পারতো বলে আমার মনে হয়।

[Olivia Moffa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly funny Wilde-esque comedy with some wonderful climactic moments! The scene with Isabelle and Messerschmann is just SO good. I love any comedy with insufferable, guileless characters like this. The underlying ribbon of disdain for the upper class in this play does come to a head nicely with Isabelle’s catharsis, but it does result in making the end feel a bit unearned. I still loved it though!

[Keeli Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's most credible moments to me were the few times the comedy turns serious and the dialogue in those moments turn captivating. Nothing very noteworthy outside of that, but definitely a fun and simple comedic play that runs on a cliche.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing, but dated and wordy.