Missing Piece Graduates present
George Dandin
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.

Tour 2005
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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