| La Cage aux Folles | |
| Characters: | Georges Albin "Zaza" Francis Salomé Jacob Mercédès M. Tabaro Zorba Laurent M. Languedoc M. Dieulafoi Mme Dieulafoi Muriel Simone |
| Setting: | a nightclub in St. Tropez, France. |
| Premiere: | 1973 |
| Place: | Théâtre du Palais-Royal Paris, France |
| Orig Lang: | French |
| Genre: | Comedy |
La Cage aux Folles (pronounced as /fr/, "The Cage of Madwomen") is a 1973 French farce by Jean Poiret[1] centering on confusion that ensues when Laurent, the son of a Saint Tropez night club owner and his gay lover, brings his fiancée's ultraconservative parents for dinner. The original French production premièred at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 1 February 1973 and ran for almost 1,800 performances. The principal roles were played by Jean Poiret and Michel Serrault. A French-Italian film of the play was made in 1978 (with two sequels La Cage aux Folles II (1980), directed by Édouard Molinaro[2] and La Cage aux Folles 3: 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner.) In 1983, Poiret's play was adapted in the United States as a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman[3] and later remade as the American film The Birdcage.[4] A new translation by actor Simon Callow premiered at the Park Theatre (London) in 2020.[5]