Printed
39 pages
Author(s)
Signe d'argent
This play was performed on May 27, 1863 for the inauguration of the Erôtikon Theatron - a series of private theatrical receptions organised by a group of writers and artists. The play was performed 5 times. The authors of the play were the owners of the house (at the 45 Rue de la Santé in Paris) in which the shows were performed, in collaboration with Lemercier de Neuville.
This play was republished by Jean Duboys and Amédée Rolland in 1883 under the full name “Toucher de la merde c’est signe d’argent” (Touching shit is a sign of money)
A couple is trying for a child
A marquis with a suggestive name (the Marquis de Coquencu, literally Marquis of Rooster-in-ass) exposes his run of bad luck to the audience: him and the Marquise (Marchioness) cannot conceive a child. He uses different tricks, such as stimulating drugs or increasingly bizarre sexual games to finally have an heir. However, the Marquise’s moods change from one extreme to the other; she beats the Marquis, and feigns a feeling of faintness to have an affair with the Domestique (Servant). In the second act, two new characters hide in the bushes to defecate, leading to numerous scatological jokes, most notably when the Marquise, pregnant, assures that she enjoys the smell of excrement to the point of asking the Marquis to bring them back to their place and cook them. The play ends with another domestic quarrel.
Other titles
First performance
Inauguration day of the Erôtikon Theatron
Publications and translations
Le Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé. Batignolles, 1864-1866
Le Théâtre érotique du XIXe siècle. Paris: Jean-Claude Lattès, 1979.