Monsieur Leotard
That modest leftist, Jules Leotard
2m/1f
He was the original daring young man on a flying trapeze. In order to better perform his acts of athleticism, Jules Leotard encased his gorgeous physique in a flexible, body-revealing costume that set Parisienne hearts aflutter. Soon M. Leotard was not only the nation's top athlete - he was also topping half of Paris.
Jules Leotard (the trapezist) was eventually nudged out by other ever-more daring performers. He died in 1870, at the age of 32 - officially (and, one suspects, euphemistically) of smallpox.
Jules Leotard left a small legacy: that sexy outfit eponymously named in his honour - and a very bitter wife. And, if this short play is to believed, the latter very nearly left him first.
Monsieur Leotard premiered in a daring performance at the Canadian Short Play Festival in Newmarket, Ontario, in 2016.