The Learned Ladies
of Park Avenue

Translated and adapted from the play by Molière

 

A play in five acts | 5M, 5F (doubling)

 

A jazz-age screwball comedy riff translated and freely adapted from Molière's biting satire of pretense and learning, Les Femmes Savantes.  Betty wants to marry Dicky.  Her mother Phyllis, a self-proclaimed intellectual and political activist, has another man in mind—namely, the hack poet and scheming opportunist Upton Gabbit.  Set in 1936 Manhattan against the backdrop of the Great Depression and impending war, this romantic comedy skewers those who wear their social consciences on their sleeves and affirms that love conquers all.

 

World Premiere | Hartford Stage | 2005

Originally commissioned by Hartford Stage

Directed by Michael Wilson

Featuring Nancy Bell, Tom Bloom, Natalie Brown, David Greenspan, Annalee Jefferies, Nafe Katter, Bill Kux, Nicole Lowrance, Pamela Payton-Wright, and Zach Shaffer