Out Loud

Plays in their original language

A play, a few voices, and the pleasure of listening together.

Join us for a live reading of On ne badine pas avec l'amour by Alfred de Musset, presented by Perth French Theatre as part of Our Living Room.

Perdican and Camille are expected to marry. Instead, pride and fear turn love into a dangerous game, with another heart caught between them.

Out Loud brings theatre close: words lifted from the page, voices sharing a story, and room for your imagination.

The reading is in French, with the French text available to follow along. French speakers and learners are welcome. Some understanding of French will help you enjoy the evening.

Friday 16 October 2026 · 6:30–8:30 pm

Flash Studio 1/257 Balcatta Rd, Balcatta

An Our Living Room gathering, presented by WAFF Collective.

A moment from a previous Perth French Theatre reading.

About the play

Can you protect yourself from heartbreak without closing yourself off to love?

Published in 1834, On ne badine pas avec l’amour brings childhood companions Camille and Perdican together again. Their family hopes for a marriage. But Camille distrusts love, and Perdican’s pride cannot bear rejection. Between them stands Rosette, whose feelings become entangled in their increasingly dangerous game.

Musset moves between humour, tenderness and cruelty, exploring the distance between what we feel and what we dare to say. The title offers its own warning: love is not something to play with.

About Alfred de Musset

Alfred de Musset (1810–1857) was a French poet and playwright of the Romantic era, drawn to the contradictions of love: its promises, its disappointments, and our fear of being vulnerable.

After an early theatrical failure, he turned to writing plays intended to be read rather than staged, an approach known as Un spectacle dans un fauteuil: theatre experienced from an armchair.

A fitting connection for Out Loud, where voices and imagination bring the play to life.