From April 3 through 7, 2013.
New World School of the Art’s college theater students present the once forgotten restoration comedy The Beaux Stratagem, by George Farguhar, adapted by Thornton Wilder and KenLudwig. With a cast comprised of college juniors and seniors, NWSA acting professor James Randolph directs the play with the assistance of published author Edward Rozinsky, who serves as fight director. “The Restoration period more than anything reflects the belief that if love is blind, marriage is astroke and you better have cold hard cash to live on after the divorce,” explained James Randolph.
“Ludwig has found the best of both worlds – the spirit as soul of the English Restoration combined with the modern sensibilities of the modern world. For our program this gives our students the opportunity to discover the glory of this style and this language and period. At its center The Beaux Stratagem is a romantic comedy that reflects a timeless value; love is a glorious thing, but it’s even better with money attached,” added Randolph.
This plays reflects a zany, wild and comic struggle of love, sex and money as two young gentlemen who have title but no money go through the English countryside in the early 1700s looking for rich but beautiful young women to romance, with the hope of achieving marriage and financial security. Complications ensue when two beautiful women come across highwaymen, a corrupt merchant and a gentlewoman who practices medicine without a license.
The Beaux Stratagem, originally performed in 1707, lasted for many years as the quintessential Restoration comedy, and in 1939 playwright Thornton Wilder, who authored Our Town, offered an ill attempt to adapt the play. It wasn’t until 2000 that Tappan Wilder, his uncle’s literary executor, rediscovered the unfinished Beaux manuscript, representing in length about half the play, in the reading room of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. After a delay of sixty-seven years, Wilder’s estate asked Ken Ludwig to complete the adaptation. Directed by Michael Kahn, the resulting play premiered in November 2006 at The Shakespeare Theater Company of Washington, D.C.
The Beaux Stratagem opens at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, April 3, at the Louise O. Gerrits Theater in downtown Miami. Additional performances take place on April 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m., and on April 6 and 7 at 2:00 p.m. General admission $12, students and seniors $5. Tickets online at nwsa.mdc.edu.
New World School of the Arts
Louise O. Gerrits Theater
305.237.3135
25 NE 2nd Street, 8th Floor
Miami, FL 33132
http://nwsa.mdc.edu
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