Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A classic five act French comedy by Beaumarchais, the source for Mozart's famous opera of the same name. Figaro, valet to Count Almaviva, is engaged to marry Suzanne, the Countess's maid. However, as their wedding approaches, Figaro discovers that his master intends to take advantage of Suzanne on their wedding night. Figaro conspires with Suzanne and the Countess to thwart the Count's schemes. Pierre Beaumarchais's play La Folle Journa e, ou Le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro) was written as a sequel to his earlier hit play, The Barber of Seville, and was first performed to the public at the Tha a tre Frana ais in Paris in April 1784. This English version by Stephen Mulrine is published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.