Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Prologue
The director of the theater presents the audience with the subject of the play: this is a comedy that will not refrain from using all kinds of theatrics in order to persuade the French to have babies!

Act I
The action takes place in Zanzibar. Young Thérèse, a feminist, wants to throw off the yoke of marriage and decides to leave home and lead a man’s life in society. While her Husband is clamoring for his meal, she sheds her breasts and becomes quite hairy. Turned into Tirésias, more masculine than her Husband, she leaves him. Two drunken dice players, Lacouf and Presto, are dancing and quarreling. As they cannot agree on where they are, they shoot one another with a pistol. Dressed as a man, Tirésias buys a newspaper while the people of Zanzibar comment on the duel. Leaving her Husband dressed as a woman in despair, Tirésias sets off to become a city councilman. Drawn by the smell of murder, the Gendarme, called as a witness by the Husband, succumbs to his womanly charms. In the face of Tirésias’s political commitments, the Husband decides to bear children on his own. The populace is amazed, so are Lacouf and Presto, who have resurrected, and the Gendarme hardly believes it.

Intermission

As the choir wonder about the Husband’s new ardor, newborns can be heard singing “Papa.”

Act II
Out of his mind with joy, the Husband is taking care of his brood of 40,049 babies, conceived and delivered in a single day. A journalist arrives from Paris to interview the prodigy. The Husband speaks of his children’s prestigious careers upon which he plans to be a rich man. He then chases away the journalist who tries to borrow money from him. The Husband decides that one of his children will be a journalist. Yet the glibness and impudence of that Son disappoint him. As the Gendarme criticizes him for bringing about a famine with so many children, the Husband sends him to the Fortune-teller. She announces edifying news to the public and congratulates the Husband for his fertility before killing the Gendarme. Intending to hand her over to the commissary, the Husband realizes that she is none other than Thérèse. Despite the loss of her breasts, they fall into each other’s arms while the Gendarme resuscitates. The people of Zanzibar celebrate their reunion and urge the audience to procreate.