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Beaux' Stratagem, The

"A delightful romp...A sparkling funny evening that...plays very well indeed."

Potomac Stages

"A sparkling production...The dialogue crackles, the characters engage the audience's interest and sympathy, and the whole thing seems almost effortless."

Talkinbroadway.com

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 18th Century
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Large Stage
Adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig from the play by George Farquhar.

The play tells the story of two young bucks who, having spent all their money by living too well, leave London and roam from town to town in search of love and fortune.

In order to find a wealthy heiress for at least one of them, they pose as master and servant – exchanging roles from one town to the next. In Lichfield, Aimwell is the master and Archer the servant, and there they meet the lovely, wealthy Dorinda and her equally desirable sister-in-law, Mrs. Kate Sullen.

They set their caps for these women, but problems abound. Kate is married to a drunken sot who despises her; the innkeeper's saucy daughter, Cherry, has set her cap for Archer; Dorinda's mother, Lady Bountiful, mistakenly believes herself to be a great healer of the sick, and she guards her daughter like a dragoness; and a band of brigands plans to rob the house of Lady Bountiful that very night, putting all schemes in jeopardy.

This is a play in the great tradition of Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer and Sheridan's The Rivals and The School for Scandal. It is classic, formal, robust and hilarious.

REVIEWS:

A delightful romp ... A sparklingly funny evening that... plays very well indeed.

Potomac Stages
  • Casting: 8M, 5F

  • BONIFACE - landlord of an inn
    CHERRY - the landlord's daughter
    DANIEL - the landlord's servant
    A LADY - set upon by robbers and disconcerted by it
    JACK ARCHER - a gentleman of broken fortune, acting as a servant
    TOM AIMWELL - a gentleman of broken fortune, acting as his master
    GLOSS - a man of two professions, highwayman and clergyman
    MRS. KATE SULLEN - Lady Bountiful's daughter-in-law
    DORINDA - Lady Bountiful's daughter
    LADY BOUNTIFUL - a country gentlewoman, foolishly fond of her son
    SCRUB - servant to Sullen
    A COUNTRY WOMAN - seeking medical advice
    SULLEN - Lady Bountiful's son, brutal to his wife
    SERVANTS - serving in the Sullen Household
    HOUNSLOW - a highwayman
    BAGSHOT - a highwayman
    SIR CHARLES FREEMAN - Mrs. Sullen's brother
    FOIGARD - a French parson anxious to perform a wedding.
  • Name Price
    Beaux' Stratagem, The Script Order Now

    Adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig from the play by George Farquhar. The play tells the story of two young bucks who, having spent all their money by living too well, leave London and roam from town to town in search of love and fortune. In order to find a wealthy heiress for at least one of them, they pose as master and servant – exchanging roles from one town to the next. In Lichfield, Aimwell is the master and Archer the servant, and there they meet the lovely, wealthy Dorinda and her equally desirable sister-in-law, Mrs. Kate Sullen. They set their caps for these women, but problems abound. Kate is married to a drunken sot who despises her; the innkeeper's saucy daughter, Cherry, has set her cap for Archer; Dorinda's mother, Lady Bountiful, mistakenly believes herself to be a great healer of the sick, and she guards her daughter like a dragoness; and a band of brigands plans to rob the house of Lady Bountiful that very night, putting all schemes in jeopardy. This is a play in the great tradition of Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer and Sheridan's The Rivals and The School for Scandal. It is classic, formal, robust and hilarious.

    $24.95