Isbn: 9781331086413 - Pipes and Perdition (classic Reprint) (3 results)

PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

Paperback. Condition: New. Print on Demand. This book is an 1881 comedy play adapted by J. V. Prichard from an unknown French original. In five acts and described as a "domestic drama," it depicts the reconciliation of the captain and his wife after a ludicrous misunderstanding over his collection of smoking pipes. Performed by an all-male cast, it parodies the hysterical plays that the author considered to be choking the theater of his day. The main character, Captain Valentine, is an otherwise respectable military man who has been enjoying the relative freedom of bachelorhood during his honeymoon, leaving his wife home alone to worry. A practical joke by his valet results in his wife believing him to be unfaithful with a harem of women he is actually referring to as his beloved smoking pipes. Discovering the truth only after a hilarious chain of misinterpretations and near separations, the couple's reconciliation provides the play's satisfying conclusion. Through witty dialogue and absurd situations, the play delivers a gently satirical examination of the outlandish plots and melodramatic conventions common in the theatrical landscape of its time. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work, digitally reconstructed using state-of-the-art technology to preserve the original format. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in the book. print-on-demand item.…