Play Details
Context
Artistic Director
Max Stafford-Clark
Co-production with Women’s Playhouse Trust
Dates Performed
Thursday 5th July 1984
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Form
Play Details
Synopsis
England, 17th century
Two young women, Julia and Leticia, are set to marry older men they don’t love. Through clever disguises and schemes, they escape these arrangements, with Leticia finding her way back to her true love, Belmour.
Cast & Creative
Cast
Jonathon Adams
Cast
Paul Bacon
Cast
Francesca Brill
Cast
Christopher Fairbank
Cast
Pam Ferris
Cast
Denis Lawson
Cast
Kathryn Pogson
Cast
Alan Rickman
Cast
Mark Tandy
Cast
Harriet Walter
Designer
Jenny Tiramani
Lighting
Geoffrey Joyce
Assistant Director
Kate Harwood
Fight director
Malcolm Ranson
What our readers say
The play delves into early feminist themes, exploring issues of marriage, love, and money. Set against a 17th-century backdrop, it highlights the challenges of women’s rights and societal inequality of the era.
What is it like reading this play now?
It gives a clear sense of how far as a society we have come with women’s rights. It highlights how little agency women were given in the 17th century, but also gives space to show female complexity and wit to trick the dysfunctioning system.
What films or music does it make you think of?
The play evokes the refined elegance and romantic entanglements found in Jane Austen adaptations such as “Emma” and “Sense and Sensibility”. It also shares the playful comedy and strong, multifaceted female leads seen in contemporary series like “Bridgerton”.
If you like this play you might also like…?
As You Like It, Love Labour’s Lost, The Rover, The Country Wife, All’s Well That Ends Well, She Stoops to Conquer, Comedy of Errors