Bébé (Baby) is a three-act comedy by the playwrights Émile de Najac and Alfred Hennequin, first performed in Paris in 1877. It depicts the amorous affairs of an indulged scion of the aristocracy, encouraged by his eccentric tutor. The play opened at the Théâtre du Gymnase on 10 March 1877, and ran for 214 performances. English versions, heavily bowdlerised, were presented in New York in 1877 and London in 1879. Background and first production By the 1870s Émile de Najac and Alfred Hennequin were established writers for the Parisian stage. Both were used to writing in partnership with co-authors, but this was the first time they worked together. Hennequin had recently enjoyed two considerable successes with Le Procès Veauradieux (1875) and Les Dominos roses (1876), both written with Alfred Delacour. Bébé was presented at the Théâtre du Gymnase on 10 March 1877, and ran for 214 performances, a considerable run at a time when a run of 100 performances was regarded as a success for a Parisian theatre. Original cast Le Baron d'Aigreville – Émile Francès Gaston, his son – Frédéric Achard De Kernanigous – Alexandre Joseph Landrol Pétillon – Saint-Germain Arthur de Beauvert – Corbin Coiffeur – Revel La Baronne d'Aigreville – Mme Bode Diane de Kernanigous – Eugénie Worms Aurélie de Villecouteuse – Mme Lebon Toinette – Mlle Dinelli Rosita – Mlle Giesz There were cast changes during the run. After eighty performances, Mme Prioleau took over the role of the Baronne and Mme Délia that of Diane. In August 1877 Saint-Germain, reported to be "so fatigued by his one hundred and sixty consecutive representations of Pétillon" handed the part over to his colleague M. Bernès. Plot Gaston is a genial, strapping young man of twenty-two, but he is still called "Bébé" by his doting parents, Baron d'Aigreville and his wife. Gaston has been indulged all his life, and in consequence is ill-educated and amoral. The Baronne views him through the eye of love as a paragon of perfection, a model of virtue and innocence. He is engaged to be married to Mathilde, a rich heiress, whose guardian, a country cousin named Kernanigous, has just arrived in Paris with his wife, Diane. Usually Kernanigous' trips to Paris are unaccompanied, so that he can visit the cocotte Aurélie de Villecouteuse. When he hears Gaston's mother boasting of the perfect purity of her son, he cannot restrain himself from declaring