Considered by some the master of the "well-made play," by others the precursor of Surrealism and the Theater of the Absurd, Eugène Labiche was one of the great innovators of vaudeville theater. The son of a wealthy industrialist, Jacques-Philippe-Marin Labiche, Eugène-Marin Labiche was born in Paris on 6 May 1815. Labiche began his writing career as did many young men of his century--by studying law in Paris. Although he obtained his degree from the Ecole de Droit, he never practiced law. His earliest publications--souvenirs of his travels in Italy and Switzerland, short stories, and theater reviews--date back to 1834 when he began writing for Chérubin, the Revue de France, and the Revue du théâtre. With Auguste Lefranc, Marc-Michel, Albéric Second (all of whom later collaborated with Labiche on many plays), Edouard Thierry (future administrator of the Comédie-Franç...