Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Ring Around the Moon is Jean Anouilh's three-act play about the power of money and the relationships forged and broken in the name of love, or lack of it. This charade takes place in one evening at a French chateau in the late 1940s.

The play is set in a French estate in a Winter Garden on a spring morning. Although the exact date is not noted, the play was written in 1947, and it is assumed that the play's action is current. The action takes place in a large conservatory filled with hothouse flowers and plants. It is important to note that the characters of Hugo and Frederic are twins and are played by the same actor, accounting for some of the rapid stage directions.

As the play begins, a butler named Joshua and a young aristocrat named Hugo are discussing...