a hilarious tale of the very rich behaving
very badly
"Rampant and scandalous!" - Jeremy Collier, 1698
THE
PROVOK'D WIFE
by John Vanbrugh
directed by Mark Wing-Davey
November 27 - December 26, 2004
at the Loeb Drama Center
photos - synopsis
- cast
- related links
The Brutes have a terrible relationship. Lady Brute
married for money, Sir John for sex - and now he has been driven
to drink and she to dreams of adultery. Flanked by a squadron of
drunken rakes, debauched aristocrats, and lascivious French maids,
the Brutes turn the town into a battlefield of love and infidelity,
armed to the teeth with their dazzling, sharp-honed wit.
First staged in 1697, The Provok'd Wife
is the crowning glory of the English Restoration - the explosive
era that banished the Puritans, reopened the theatres, and prized
outrageous comedies of social mayhem and sexual license. John Vanbrugh
- playwright, politician, soldier, spy, and the architect of Blenheim
Palace - was languishing in the Bastille when he drafted The
Provok'd Wife, an immorality tale of the very rich behaving
very badly.
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