The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary
Paperback, 128 pages ISBN: 9781848425644Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
Size: 198mm x 129mm£9.99 £7.99You save £2.00 (20%)
A4 Spiral-bound, 256 pages ISBN: 9781839042256Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
Size: 297mm x 210mm£14.99 £11.99You save £3.00 (20%)
Ebook, 128 pages ISBN: 9781780017150Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
£9.99 £7.99You save £2.00 (20%)
First Staged:
Peepolykus tour, 2016

The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary

By Gustave Flaubert Adapted by John Nicholson and Javier Marzan

Paperback £9.99£7.99

A4 Spiral-bound £14.99£11.99

Ebook £9.99£7.99

On Stage at:
UK tour
From Tue 23 Apr 2024 to Sat 20 Jul 2024

Peepolykus bring their exhilarating combination of verbal slapstick, visual surprise and anarchic comedy to Gustave Flaubert's seminal nineteenth-century masterpiece Madame Bovary.

Laugh and cry in equal measure as Emma Bovary chooses the wrong husband. Lose yourself in mesmeric love scenes featuring a procession of devastatingly attractive men. Rail at the fate of women in a patriarchal society, if you will. Prepare yourself for vermin, moustaches, wild animals, lots of French people and a nun.

Written for a bijou cast of four playing multiple roles, The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary was a co-production between Peepolykus, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Nuffield in Southampton, Bristol Old Vic and the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. It premiered at the Everyman in Liverpool in 2016 before touring to all those other places too.

Like their tremendously popular Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus's Bovary offers abundant opportunities for comedy and slapstick – plus some massive tragedy – to any theatre company or drama group looking for a loving derailment of a classic novel.


A4 Edition also available

This play is also available as an A4 Edition, offering spiral binding, a larger print size and additional space for notes. To order the play in this format, simply select the 'A4 Spiral-bound' option above. Please note A4 Editions are only available for delivery within the UK.

Press Quotes

'Refreshes the parts other adaptions cannot reach... Far from being a dour portrayal of French provincial life, The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary is in fact a riot. Peepolykus have essentially juiced Flaubert's original novel, extracting all the sweet and tangy bits and leaving the pulp behind... It teases and pleases in equal measure... the delightful performer-text-audience interplay marks this out for distinction... With more than a hint of Monty Python it all adds up to a rather enchanting box of theatrical tricks'

British Theatre Guide

'Very funny, perceptive and true to the novel... a show delivered with both love and lunacy'

Guardian

'Wonderfully tongue-in-cheek, fast-paced… metatheatre [as] an extreme sport... despite the lunacy of it all, this is actually a remarkably lucid telling of the story'

The Stage

'Two hours of fabulous farce... as heart-breaking as it is hilarious... John Nicholson's script is quick-witted and skilfully crafted, perfect panto material'

Reviews Hub

'It's quick, it's clever, and it's totally bonkers... a deliciously entertaining adaptation that jumps off the pages... a feat of multi-casting foolery, spinning Emma Bovary's descent into disgrace and shame with bleak humour and blasé comedy. But it's not all just fun and games. Nicholson's stage translation is faithful to the original version, honouring its protagonist as effectively as it does its ultimate moral and (surprisingly relevant) social critique. While it's a comedy, there's tragedy's a-plenty... a stunning triumph'

Broadway World
Paperback,128 pages ISBN: 9781848425644Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
Size: 198mm x 129mm£9.99 £7.99You save £2.00 (20%)
A4 Spiral-bound,256 pages ISBN: 9781839042256Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
Size: 297mm x 210mm£14.99 £11.99You save £3.00 (20%)
Ebook,128 pages ISBN: 9781780017150Publication Date:
4 Feb 2016
£9.99 £7.99You save £2.00 (20%)

Also by Gustave Flaubert:

Madame Bovary: Breakfast with Emma

Go to author page...

Also by John Nicholson:

The Three Musketeers
King Arthur
Dracula: The Bloody Truth
Treasure Island
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Time Machine: A Comedy

Go to author page...

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