Or, Mr Waddle, the Outwitted Husband
By Moličre, translated & directed by Philip Osment

designed by Lisa Ducie
lighting by Ian Scott

Self made man, George Waddle, suspects his wife has a lover and determines to prove to his impoverished but aristocratic in-laws that their daughter is a two0timing hussy. But his wife, in cahoots with her lover and her servant, cleverly outwits his befuddled attempts to expose her with hilarious consequences.

First performed in 1668, Moličre’s comedy cunningly ridicules the snobbery of the aristocracy and the foolish aspirations of the nouveau riche. In this vibrant new version , Graeae throws fresh light onto this classic play with their physical interpretation and chronicle of the characters’ farcical antics.

NOTE FROM PHILIP OSMENT – DIRECTOR
George Dandin is a farce with dark undertones. We laugh at the antics of the stupid nouveau riche husband trying to prove to his aristocratic in-laws that their daughter is cheating on him. His problem is that he wants to belong to the nobility while at the same time resenting the fact that they look down on him. So he is truly hoist by his own petard.

Like all Moličre’s heroes he is a monomaniac. He is driven by hurt pride to prove that he is being cuckolded. Either way he is a loser: if he succeeds then his reputation is ruined; if he doesn’t then he is branded as a jealous fool and has to apologise to the very people who he knows are offending him. Ultimately he is so caught up in his obsession that he is unable to take up his wife’s offer to mend her ways and forge a harmonious partnership with him. It is at this point that the comedy takes on an almost tragic dimension.

The production will give equal weight to the both the farcical and the serious. I want the Graeae actors to have fun exploring the comedy in situations where people miss and mistake each other in the dark; where wiliness and stupidity are counterbalanced to hilarious effect, and where the pretensions of the larger than life characters are satirised and ridiculed. But at the same time I want the audience to see how Dandin’s stupidity brings him pain and how the short-sightedness of the aristocrats will ultimately bring about their own downfall.

With the designer Lisa Ducie and the lighting designer Ian Scott we aim to create a world where the 17th Century French characters are recognisable in 21st Century London – a world where the classes and the sexes, the haves and the have nots, collide and their antics make the audience laugh and wince in equal measure.

7 July, 8pm Rose Bruford College Sidcup, Kent Invited audience only 8 & 9 July, 8pm Hat Factory Luton Tel 01582 878100 Fax 01582 878109 hatfactory@luton.gov.uk 11 July, 7.15pm Lilian Baylis Theatre Sadler’s Wells, London Tel 0870 737 7737 Minicom 020 7863 8015 www.sadlers-wells.com 13 July, 8pm Trinity Theatre Tunbridge Wells Tel 01892 678678 Fax 01892 678680 www.trinitytheatre.net info@trinitytheatre.net 14 July, 8pm Chats Palace London E9 Tel 020 85330227 Fax 020 89856878 www.chatspalace.com

15 & 16 July, 8pm artsdepot London N12 Tel 020 83695454 www.artsdepot.co.uk 19 July, 8pm Trestle Theatre St Albans Tel 01727 850950 Fax 01727 855558 www.trestle.org.uk 21 & 22 July, 8pm The Albany Deptford London SE14 Tel 020 86924446 Fax 020 84692253 www.thealbany.org.uk admin@thealbany.org.uk

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