Bohemians, The

One-Acts 45

By: C. Edward Wheaton
Cast: 13 M, 5 F, 5 flexible, optional extras
Performance Time: Approximately 45-60 minutes, 43 pgs.

VICTORIAN MELODRAMA. This adaptation combines two well-known classic novels of French Bohemian life—Henri Du Maurier’s Tribly and Henri Murger’s The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, which inspired Puccini’s opera La Bohème and the musical Rent. Both works have made lasting impressions on popular culture: Du Maurier’s Trilby introduced “Svengali” into the English lexicon and Murger’s The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter made the term “Bohemian” synonymous with “artist.” This easy-to-produce one-act satirizes the carefree Bohemian lifestyle of 19th-century Paris. Three penniless British painters, who have questionable artistic talent, pass their time lounging about in cafés. One artist, Archey Pendelton, has fallen in love with the Scottish beauty Trilby O’Ferrall. But the humorous villain of the play, the German piano-playing chicken hypnotist, Svengali, has devised a plan to break up the happy couple and transform Trilby into a singing sensation.

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C. Edward Wheaton (1950-2019) studied drama at Stanislaus State College and had an extensive background in 19th-century and early 20th-century American drama and literature. He was from Stevinson, CA.