Learned Ladies, The
- Full Length Play, Comedy, Contemporary
- 5M, 6F
- ISBN: 9780573692895
"Thomas' modernisms smartly put the satire's emphasis on the pomposity rather than the feminism of the Precieuse Movement."
Variety
Description
- Full Length Play
- Comedy
- 120 minutes
- Time Period: Contemporary
- Target Audience: Adult
- Set Requirements: Interior Set
- Cautions: Mild Adult Themes
- Performance Group:
- High School/Secondary, College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Professional Theatre
This rollicking version of Les Femmes Savantes delighted audiences Off Broadway in a production starring Jean Stapleton as Philamente, a most unliterary lady intent on having a high toned literary salon. She has neither literary nor common sense, which makes her easy prey for sycophantic con artist Trissotin. He passes himself off as a famous poet and becomes a permanent house guest. Philamente hopes to marry her daughter to Trissotin, but the daughter wishes to marry the unsuitable Clitandre.
This version strays from a strictly literal translation of Moliere's play, often employing anachronisms in the rhymed couplets that will appall purists and absolutely delight everyone else. If you want your audiences to roll with laughter as they watch a play by a "famous dead playwright," this version is for you.
REVIEWS:
The show's most consistently enlivening presence is that of translator and adapter Freyda Thomas, who translates the playwright's alexandrine verse of 1972 into vital musical forms marked by crisp and unexpected rhymes, period echoes and cheerfully clanging anachronisms... Thomas harmonizes the classical and the contemporary to make us hear Moliere's wit in an appealing new key.
San Francisco Chronicle
Flavoring her rhymed couplets with contemporary anachronism, adapted Freyda Thomas has devised a pop version of Moliere that amalgamates styles and periods entertainingly. As a result, Ms. Thomas serves the ends of the 17th century French classic and the latter day spectator. The outcome is general satisfaction and general merriment.
Christian Science Monitor
Thomas' modernisms smartly put the satire's emphasis on the pomposity rather than the feminism of the Precieuse Movement.
Variety
Characters
- Casting: 5M, 6F
- Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible)
MARTINE - the maid, street smart and sassy (any age)
CHRYSALE - husband of Philamente, father of Henriette and Armande, master of the house (50-60)
ARISTA - Sister to Chrysale, the voice of reason (50s)
HENRIETTE - Daughter to Chrysale & Philamente, sweet (20s)
CLITANDRE - Henriette's suitor, hotheaded but a good guy (30s)
TRISSOTIN - a house guest and a bad poet (40s)
VADIUS - another poet, rival to Trissotin (30s)
JUDGE - played by Vadius
PHILAMENTE - wife of Chrysale, a liberated woman (50s)
ARMANDE - Older sister of Henriette, a wannabe liberated woman (30s)
BELISE - Sister to Chrysale, very eccentric but lovable (60s)
Available Material
| Name | Price |
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Learned Ladies, The Script
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Translated and adapted by Freyda Thomas from the original by Moliere This rollicking version of Les Femmes Savantes delighted audiences Off Broadway in a production starring Jean Stapleton as Philamente, a most unliterary lady intent on having a high toned literary salon. She has neither literary nor common sense, which makes her easy prey for sycophantic con artist Trissotin. He passes himself off as a famous poet and becomes a permanent house guest. Philamente hopes to marry her daughter to Trissotin, but the daughter wishes to marry the unsuitable Clitandre. This version strays from a strictly literal translation of Moliere's play, often employing anachronisms in the rhymed couplets that will appall purists and absolutely delight everyone else. If you want your audiences to roll with laughter as they watch a play by a 'famous dead playwright,' this version is for you. |
$24.95 |
