Fédora

{{For|the opera adapted from this play|Fedora (opera)}}

{{Italic title}}

File:Sarah Bernhardt - Foedora.png in Fédora]]

Fédora is a play by the French author Victorien Sardou. It opened at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 11 December 1882,Noël, Edouard and Philippe Stoullig. [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9674770h/f327 Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique, 1882], p. 245 and ran for 135 performances. [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k281593c/f2 "Le succès au théâtre"], Le Figaro, 23 August 1891, p. 2 The first production starred Sarah Bernhardt. She wore a soft felt hat in that role which was soon a popular fashion for women; the hat became known as a fedora.Marciano, John Bemelmans. 2009. Anonyponymous: the forgotten people behind everyday words. New York: Bloomsbury USA. p. 65. {{ISBN|9781596916531}}

The premiere was headline news in Paris. Le Figaro devoted its whole front page to it in addition to further coverage inside.[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k278414c/f1.item.zoom "Fédora"], Le Figaro, pp. 1–2, 12 December 1882 The Paris correspondent of The Era called Bernhardt's performance as Princess Fédora Romazoff "magnificent throughout … the most brilliant of her remarkable career"."The Drama in Paris", The Era, 16 December 1882, p. 5 Pierre Berton played Loris Ipanoff, the only other major role, and was highly praised. The Era commented, "The other rôles are less than subsidiary. They are filled faultlessly by MM. Colombey, Tchileff; Vois, the Attaché; Boisselot, Michel; Mdlles. De Cléry and Depoix".

In one scene Fédora weeps over the body of her murdered lover. The deceased needed only to lie still, and Parisian men of fashion took to spending one evening each as the distinguished corpse. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales took a turn, delighting the city.Cowles, Virginia. Gay Monarch: The Life and Pleasures of Edward VII. New York: Harper and Row, p. 59.

In July 1883 Bernhardt led her company in Fédora as the final production in a series of French plays given at the Gaiety Theatre, London. Berton again played Loris."Theatre", Pall Mall Gazette, 12 July 1883, pp. 3–4

The play was turned into an opera, Fedora, by Umberto Giordano in 1898.Budden, Julian. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000901580 "Fedora"], Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 September 2021 {{subscription required}}