The French farce in Iceland via West End

París-Eyjafjörður með viðkomu á West End

Abstract

This article traces the translation and reception history of French vaudeville-comedy in Iceland, with a special focus on plays by Marc Camoletti, who wrote the all-time popular Boeing-Boeing. Vaudeville-comedies are caracterized by the plot which revolves primarily around preventing some private misconduct from coming to light; their construction is strong and can withstand the strain of adaptation and domestication. The history of French farce is briefly traced, from the Middle Ages to the vaudeville of the 19th and 20th centuries and considered whether the latter still have something to convey to today’s audiences. The main productions of French farces on Icelandic stages are reviewed in terms of whether they have been adapted to new audiences or not. A special focus is given to Gísli Rúnar Jónsson’s rewriting of the French plays and on those of British playwright Ray Cooney, whose bedroom farces are based on the vaudeville model. The French plays were usually well received in Iceland, both in translations and adaptations, and it seems that their domesticated versions even form, at least in part, the basis of the vernacular Icelandic summer holiday farce.