An extract from Bill Wall's article in Questopics 63, December 1971.

French farce is popularly thought to be always located in a bedroom, which is constructed entirely of doors and wardrobes. In and out of these a succession of either agreeably under-dressed amorists, or irate and cuckolded pursuers, propel themselves, and their dialogue, at jet speed. Fortunately, this is partly true, for in Feydeau's hands beds, and their random occupants, become the source of the most delightful comedy.

Two characteristics distinguish Feydeau from his predecessors, Sardou and Labiche; one being the wealth of complications as each situation intensifies from trouble to danger to panic, and the other is the unsparing quality of his mockery. The charming fellow had no respect for the foibles of humans, or institutions.

Feydeau, a spectacularly unsuccessful businessman, was fortunately driven by his stock market losses to continue writing plays; his talents in this field being the brilliant reverse of his business ones. His plot situations are based on a wry reflection of his relationship with the business world made evident in his own creed, ‘when two characters should under no circumstances encounter one another I throw them together as quickly as possible'. Having contrived that, he gave them dialogue of definitive Gallic wit and elegance.