90 in the Shade & Dust in Your Eyes

90° in the Shade

It is the custom of Hector Pomadour to invite his friends to his home on Sunday for lunch and skittles

On this occasion, one of them has run into another gentleman on his way and has invited him to join the group. Hector is delighted, as Adolphe Dumanoir seems to be a man worthy of cultivation, at least, that is, until he is caught hugging and kissing Hector’s wife

This, of course, calls for satisfaction, and despite the summer heat a duel is decided upon — after Hector has been assured by his friends that the guilty party would never think of defending himself against the injured husband

When Dumanoir makes it clear that he has no intention of being so foolishly gallant the picture changes, and while Hector and the others huddle to discuss strategy Madame Pomadour and Dumanoir hatch a little plot of their own

He agrees to let Hector off with a scratch, provided that Madame P. gives him another kiss. This she does, only to be discovered again — and the outrage is aggravated. But Gallic ingenuity comes to the fore, honor is satisfied, and all ends in a spirit of jovial camaraderie

From 29° A L’ombre alternative title Heat of the Day - a gay and witty study of what happens when one French gentleman comes upon another French gentleman kissing the first gentleman’s wife

Dust in Your Eyes

Dr and Madame Malingear are perfectly satisfied with their pleasant, uneventful existence until it comes to their ears that their daughter, Emily, is seriously interested in a young man who has been an increasingly frequent caller

When confronted with a demand as to what his intentions might be the young man, Frederick, confesses his love. He also announces that his father is a retired businessman “of sufficient fortune”

The Malingears are pleased but, at the same time, apprehensive that Frederick’s family might find them not of an equal social or financial standing

When they learn that Monsieur and Madame Ratinois (the parents) plan to visit them incognito the Malingears decide to throw “dust in their eyes” with a vengeance. And so they do — with lavish extravagances they can’t afford

Monsieur and Madame Ratinois respond in kind, and soon both families are near bankruptcy. Fortunately a kindly, level-headed uncle saves the day, and brings the lovers happily together at last

From La Poudre aux Yeux by Eugene Labiche and E. Martin. A classic French farce, delightfully and cleverly rendered into English

Here the victims of the author’s wit are two middle-class Parisian families: one with a marriageable daughter; one with a love-smitten son; and both with a disastrous urge to impress the other as being more chic and affluent than they really are

Cast also requires 1 boy