Gordon Bennett's Play about Moliere
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Gordon Bennett's Play about Moliere
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About My New Play
My two-act historical drama, GOD OF LAUGHTER, is about the turbulent life and times of France's comic genius, Moliere. The play traces his driving ambition to write satire "to disrobe the world," particularly the pompous pretenders and hell-bent hypocrites of 17th Century France. It brings the audience to a climactic moment of reconciliation with his estranged wife, then an ironic denoument where the ill Moliere dies while playing Argon, who only thought he was ill, in "The Hypochondriac."
Comedy pervades much of GOD OF LAUGHTER, as the title suggests, from subtle verbal humor to hilarious farce. Eccentric characters such as Jean's (Moliere's) impertinent maid, La Foret, the master of impersonation, Nicolas Boileau, the pompous rival actor Montfleury, and the snobbish prima donna, Theresa du Parc, are extremely amusing; nor do Moliere's fellow players in the Troupe de Roi lack wit and verve. But there is oppostion, bringing pathos: Moliere is banned by the Church, burned by his love, Armande Bejart, and spurned by his King whose political instincts--he must bow to the Catholic bishops--require banning Moliere's "Tartuffe." Issues of artistic integrity, the Church-theatre standoff, styles of acting, loyalty, betrayal, and forgiveness are explored, leading to a remarkably moving conclusion.
GOD OF LAUGHTER was first staged at Eastern University in 2000. The play won the 2003 CITA award for best full-length play and was given a public reading at Hedgerow Theatre as part of its New Play Festival. I am now seeking additional productions by academic and professional theatres.
SAMPLE SCENES FROM ACT I FOLLOW.
SCENE 6
MOLIERE HAS JUST MET THE 20-YEAR-OLD SISTER OF HIS LONGTIME LOVER AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS THEATRE, MADELAINE BEJART. ARMANDE IS ONLY 20, BUT MOLIERE IS INFATUATED WITH HER BEAUTY AND VIVACITY. SHE WANTS TO BE AN ACTRESS, AND MOLIERE IS DETERMINED TO HAVE HER. THERESA DU PARC AND CHARLES DE LA GRANGE, FELLOW ACTORS, ARE INTRODUCED TO ARMANDE AS THE SCENE OPENS
MOLIERE
Good morning, mademoiselle....Charles. This is Madelaine's sister, Armande. She will audition for us today.
ARMANDE
(TAKEN ABACK) Today? But--I--I thought--
LA GRANGE
(KISSING HER HAND) La Grande here. Delighted, my dear.
DU PARC
I am the Marquise. Welcome to Paris. Madelaine's spoken well of you.
ARMANDE
Thank you. But should I be auditioning already?
MOLIERE
Don't fret, Armande. You do want to become an actress?
ARMANDE
Yes, of course. However--
MOLIERE
There is no time like now! Friends, Madelaine is indisposed but our present business doesn't concern her. We need to cast our new play and the only role that's undetermined is that of Agnes. The Marguise is a possibility, and so is Armande.
LA GRANGE
Armande?
DU PARC
(OUTRAGED) You don't mean it, Monsieur! Are you seriously considering casting this child, with no acting experience, in the role?
MOLIERE
It is by no means settled, Marquise. I want to hear both of you.
DU PARC
I'd consider it beneath me to read against this child, monsieur.
ARMANDE
I have played a few small roles, mademoiselle, in the nunnery.
DU PARC
Nunnery! You might as well have played in a nursery! Is your convent experience going to qualify you for the Paris stage? Mon dieu! Moliere, sometimes I think you have lost your head!
MOLIERE
Then help me reattach it. Come now, we're wasting time.
LA GRANGE
You may as well trust his instincts, Theresa, he's generally right.
DU PARC
This is none of your business, Charles! (MOVES ANGRILY, STOPS)Oh, very well...What is the scene?
MOLIERE
Charles, you'll read Arnolphe, and you read Agnes, Marquise. Now Agnes is a very demure young person, apparently devoted to her patron, Arnolphe. Arnolphe has returned home after an absence, and he's alarmed about his ward--afraid she's been waylaid by a young paramour, a potential rival for his affections. You're seated, Marquise, doing your sewing, as he returns. You know the lines? (SHE NODS, SITTING) Good. Begin.
LA GRANGE ASSUMES THE ROLE OF ARMANDE TO HER AGNES. LA FORET (MOLIERE'S HOUSEKEEPER) ENTERS, DRAWING A SCOWL FROM MOLIERE. LA GRANGE, AS ARNOLPHE...
LA GRANGE:
Work in hand, Agnes? Your head hasn't turned, thank heaven. Are you glad that I'm home?
DU PARC (AS AGNES)
Yes, I am.
LA GRANGE
Good. (SITTING, HE MOTIONS TO HER) Sit here by my knee. Have you kept as well as you appear to be?
DU PARC
Yes, except for the fleas which disturb me at night.
LA GRANGE
You will have someone to make that right.
DU PARC
I shall be extremely grateful for that.
LA GRANGE
Oh, I'm sure. What is that you're working at?
DU PARC
I've just finished your nightshirt and cap. Now--
LA FORET
If I may interrupt, Master--
MOLIERE
No, you may not!
LA FORET
The scene lacks life! It's flat, if you ask me.
MOLIERE
I'll flatten you! It's a standard scene of introduction! We're presenting Agnes to the audience and making it clear that Arnolphe is suspicious of her.
LA FORET
He wants to make sure there's been no hanky-panky?
MOLIERE
Yes.
LA GRANGE
I like it.
DU PARC
You always like everything, Charles.
MOLIERE
Do you approve, La Foret? (SHE SHRUGS) Thank you. Armande, will you read the role, please?
ARMANDE
But I don't know it.
MOLIERE
Speak extempore. Play it naturally. Don't be nervous.
ARMANDE
I'll try. (SHE WAITS FOR DU PARC TO GIVE WAY. DU PARC PAUSES, THEN RISES WITH A SNIFF, AND ARMANDE TAKES HER PLACE)
LA GRANGE
Work in hand, Agnes? Your head hasn't turned, thank heaven. Are you glad that I've returned?
ARMANDE
(WITH FEELING, AND DIRECTING IT TOWARDS MOLIERE:)
Yes...I am.
MOLIERE
(BREAKING IN) Fine! Superb! You shall be Agnes!
DU PARC
What, after three words of dialogue?
MOLIERE
She's right for it. Please, no debating.
DU PARC
(RAGING) I never saw the like! This is preposterous, incredible! This red-cheeked cherub wanders in here and just because she is Madelaine's sister she gets the part right off, with no experience--the most important part in the play--
MOLIERE
There's another fine female role--
DU PARC
And you've given that to Madelaine! Where is my role? I'd like to know what I'm to do in this play, monsieur!
MOLIERE
Dancing, of course...the interludes--
DU PARC
And how do I develop my acting talent when I'm relegated to dancing the interludes? This is outrageous! I just read the one brief scene--if you'll give me a love scene to read--
MOLIERE
No love scenes, actually. The lovers don't meet in front of the audience until the last act.
DU PARC
How disagreeable! Do you expect the audience to remain interested that long?
LA FORET
That is a point, monsieur.
MOLIERE
Hold your tongue, woman!
LA FORET
But people like romance, monsieur.
DU PARC
This sounds like a very insipid play! I asm glad not to be associated with it!
ARMANDE
(RISING TO CONFRONT DU PARC) Excuse me, but how can you say that to Monsieur Moliere? He's written anopther splendid comedy. Don't you think so, Monsieur La Grange?
LA GRANGE
Indeed.
DU PARC
Indeed, my foot! And what do you know about theatre, child? Did the nuns teach you what makes a play successful or not?
ARMANDE
(FACE TO FACE) I know the difference between art and--artifice!
DU PARC
You little vixen! You gnat-brained idiot of a girl! If you weren't Madelaine's sister I'd teach you some manners--(SEIZING ARMANDE)--maybe I will do just that!--
AND A STRUGGLE BREAKS OUT BETWEEN THEM. AS THEY WRESTLE, OTHERS TRY TO INTERCEDE, AND THEY EVENTUALLY HOLD THE COMBATANTS APART.
MOLIERE
Ladies, Ladies! We are still one happy family, are we not? Come, come...let us put aside professional envy (STERN GLANCE AT DU PARC) and youthful conceit (EYEING ARMANDE) and remember that as our ensemble prospers, so do we as individuals. (THE WOMEN ARE RELEASED, KEEPING THEIR DISTANCE, BUT IF LOOKS COULD KILL...)
Marquise, if you lack a role in this production you'll have one in the next. I would never idle anyone of your caliber. Each has certain gifts, in combination. My task is to determine which of these combinations is right for a certain role, in a particular play. So, you see, I must sometimes become a little dictator. I must be arbitrary! Come now, Marquise, don't pout...
DU PARC
(HAUGHTILY) If I am not needed here...I must attend to other business... (EXITS)
MOLIERE
(BOWING TO HER BACK) Mademoiselle...(CROSSING TO LA FORET) La Foret, how is Madelaine?
LA FORET
Quite ill, master. (MOLIERE IS TROUBLED) Every day she complains of being listless...lacking energy.
MOLIERE
Let me go to her. (STARTS TO LEAVE, BUT ARMANDE CATCHES HIS ARM)
ARMANDE
Monsieur, I thank you so much! I hope I can reward your confidence.
MOLIERE
Your presence is my reward. (HE KISSES HER HAND, THEN EXITS.
LIGHTS DIM OUT; TRANSITIONAL MUSIC
SCENE 7
MOLIERE'S SITTING-ROOM. JEAN IS HANDING OUT PAGES TO LA GRANGE AND BARON. (THE LATTER, A VERY SHY YOUNG ACTOR AND MOLIERE'S PROTEGE, WILL QUIETLY ATTEND MOLIERE DURING THE SCENE.) THE RENOWNED PARISIAN WRITER AND MOLIERE'S GOOD FRIEND, NICOLAS BOILEAU IS ALSO PRESENT, WITH LA FORET IN THE WINGS.
MOLIERE
Look over these pages and imprint the cues and lines in your minds. You need to become the character, not just suggest--we need du Parc for this scene! Gone? (THEY SHRUG) We'll run the scene without her. La Foret can fill in. I--
MONTFLEURY ENTERS, IN SARTORIAL SPLENDOR, HOLDING A CANE AND WEARING A STUNNING CHAPEAU. A TRAGEDIAN AND MEMBER OF THE RIVAL TROUPE AT THE HOTEL DE BOURGOGNE, MONTFLEURY IS STOUT AND POMPOUS. HE SPEAKS AS SOMEONE WHO ENJOYS THE SOUND OF HIS OWN VOICE.
MONTFLEURY
Mes amis, c'est moi!
From the Hotel de Bourgogne I bring salutations;
I trust I'm not interfering with your--lamentations.
BOILEAU
We have nothing to lament. Jean's plays are the toast of Paris!
LA GRANGE
Monsieur Montfleury! How often do you enter a house without knocking?
BOILEAU
You should wait to be announced, Monsieur. We had a bassoon ready.
MONTFLEURY
Your servants were absent, so I let myself in.
Such a lapse in my house would be a very grave sin.
BOILEAU
He intends to talk in verse, I fear.
LA GRANGE
Sir! this is a rhyme-free house...
LA GRANGE AND BOILEAU
We speak in prose here!
MONTFLEURY
Of course. Well, as it were--
MOLIERE
(RISING) I bid you welcome, Monsieur Montfleury. You do us honor, sir.
MONTFLEURY
(BOWING LOW) Not at all,sir...as it were.
MOLIERE
(BOWING) Your servant, sir. (CALLING) La Foret! (SHE ENTERS) A chair for the monsieur. A chair for the Hotel de Bourgogne!
LA FORET
That will have to be a huge one.!
MOLIERE
Be quick about it, scatterbrain!
LA FORET
Oh yes, m'lord, right away, m'liege! (PUTS A CHAIR BEHIND MONTFLEURY.HE IS ABOUT TO SIT DOWN WHEN SHE COURTSIES. NATURALLY, HE RISES TO BOW) Monsieur.
MONTFLEURY
(ALWAYS THE GENTLEMAN) Mademoiselle. (STARTS TO SIT, BUT SHE TAKES A STEP BACKWARD AND COURTSIES AGAIN)
LA FORET
Monsieur.
MONTFLEURY
(RISING, HE BOWS AGAIN) Mademoiselle. (SATISFIED WITH HER AMUSEMENT, LA FORET BUSIES HERSELF ELSEWHERE)
BOILEAU
(AS MOLIERE RESUMES HIS SEAT) Yes...do tell us what brings you to the Rue de Richelieu. (MONTFLEURY SITS, WITH A WARY EYE ON LA FORET)
MONTFLEURY
I come on my own, gentleman, not representing my company. I trust that point is clear.
LA GRANGE
Very clear indeed.
MONTFLEURY
It is always satisfying, as it were, to know that one is understood.
LA GRANGE
So true, sir.
MONTFLEURY
I have come to offer some advice which I believe you will find useful and not, as it were, take amiss. Moliere...(PAUSING FOR EFFECT)...You are not so fine a dramatist as you may think.
MOLIERE
Oh, I know that I am not as good as I think I am. But then, I never thought I was.
MONTFLEURY
You jest, but I must warn you that in your brief sojourn on the Paris stage you have made some real enemies. In the long run that will be one of the two factors combining, as it were, to ruin your ambitions.
MOLIERE
Oh? Well, I can manage my enemies.
MONTFLEURY
Do not treat them lightly. I am not among them, understand. I speak impartially, as it were. But enemies can threaten one's career. That is the practical side of the matter. On the spiritual side, I must say that it is not very Christian to offend people as you do.
MOLIERE
Jesus offended the Pharisees, did he not?
MONTFLEURY
You are not Jesus.
MOLIERE
What, and nobody told me? But to the question of placating one's enemies. I may be hanged for it someday but I prefer candor to flattery. La Foret, the story!
LA FORET
Story? Which story?
MOLIERE
Diogenes, of course.
LA FORET
Oh yes, dear Diogenes. The philosopher Diogenes was washing lentils to make soup, in front of the philosopher Aristippus, who had acquired a comfortable living by paying court to the King. Aristippus sneered, "If you had learned to flatter the King you would not have to live on such poor food as lentils!" Diogenes replied, (GESTURES TO BOILEAU AND LA GRANGE, WHO JOIN IN)..."If you had learned to live on lentils you would not have to flatter the King!" (GUFFAWS FROM ALL BUT MONT.)
MONTFLEURY
(DRYLY) In my place a parlormaid would serve the wine and not the witticism, as it were. But there is another issue that I must raise. It is the question of art. (BECOMING MORE AND MORE DECLAMATORY, WITH FLOURISHES) Our companies are very different. We create tragic moments and do them well. We have discernment. We produce an ensemble effect of the highest magnitude to mine the rich depths of human feeling...
MOLIERE
(IMPATIENTLY) Yes, yes...
MONTFLEURY
Your players have a certain penchant for farce, hardly high comedy. (DISTASTEFULLY:) Farce. You have, I concede, found some human failings and exposed them with some verve and vivacity but--to come to the point--
MOLIERE
Oh yes, do come to the point!
MONTFLEURY
I will give you this advice, Monsieur--seek the grand style! Your actors lack size, as it were. Their movements are mundane, their lines often trivial.
MOLIERE
We try to achieve a certain naturalness, monsieur.
MONTFLEURY
Naturalness is for the street, the market, the kitchen! (AS HE BECOMES MORE PHYSICALLY FLAMBOYANT, BOILEAU AND LA GRANGE ARE MIMICING HIM UPSTAGE. MOLIERE STIFLES LAUGHTER) The stage calls for a different quality, a different cadence, the sort of speech that sets the heart racing and the lungs pumping. The theatre calls for giants brandishing swords, not puppets packing toothpicks!
MOLIERE
Puppets packing toothpicks! I'm impressed.
MONTFLEURY
Sir, I hope that my advice is not misplaced or offensive, as it were.
MOLIERE
Sir, I take it in the spirit in which it was offered.
MONTFLEURY
Excellent. I know that you are a gentleman. But do remember the Lord Jesus, and beware of making enemies.
MOLIERE
He didn't tell us to make enemies, but to love the ones we make.
MONTFLEURY
A well-turned phrase. (OMINOUSLY) but his enemies did him in.
THIS DROPS ON THE ASSEMBLY LIKE A LEAD BALLOON. HEAVY SILENCE. AS MONTFLEURY TAKES A STEP TOWARD THE DOOR, LAS GRANGE BEGINS A DIVERSION.
LA GRANGE
By the saints, sir! What a marvelous chapeau!
MONTFLEURY
Oh, do you like my hat?
LA GRANGE
I have never seen anything more handsome.
MONTFLEURY
(FLATTERED) Do you mean it?
LA GRANGE
The King's courtiers would die of envy! Am I right, Nicolas?
BOILEAU
Oh, indeed! Where did you find it monsieur?
MONTFLEURY
Well, I don't know. My servants, maybe--do you really like it?
LA GRANGE
Like it? I admire it with my whole soul! In fact, name your price, I will buy it from you! I could tell everyone--what an honor--that my headpiece once sat on the head of the world's most eminent tragedian.
MONTFLEURY
(TOTALLY SNOWED) Well, ah...since you admire it so...(GRANDLY SWEEPING IT OFF HIS HEAD)...I make you a present of my hat!
LA GRANGE
Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it!
MONTFLEURY
Yes, yes...I must insist!
LA GRANGE
Oh, you are too kind. You must desist!
MONTFLEURY
Please do me the honor of wearing it about town, as it were.
LA GRANGE
I am deeply grateful. (TAKES THE HAT AND SHOWS IT TO BOILEAU, WHO IS FEIGNS ADMIRATION)
WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN EXAGGERATED LEAVE-TAKING RITUAL, AS EACH MAN TRIES TO OUT-BOW AND OUT-DO THE OTHER. DURING THE EXCHANGE, BOILEAU AND LA GRANGE MIMIC THE ACTION UPSTAGE. PLAY THE SEQUENCE QUICKLY, RATHER CHAPLINESQUE.
MONTFLEURY
(TO LA GRANGE AND BOILEAU) Good day to you,gentlemen. (BOWS TO THEM; NOW, TO MOLIERE:) And to you, sir. (MOLIERE RISES) Your humble servant, sir. (BOWS)
MOLIERE
No, yours, sir. (BOWS)
MONTFLEURY
No sir, I am your most obedient and humble servant. (BOWS)
MOLIERE
No sir, I am yours, sir, today and tomorrow and forever. I insist upon it. (BOWS)
MONTFLEURY
Not at all, sir (BOWS)
MOLIERE
Oh yes, sir. (BOWS)
MONTFLEURY
No, I am in your debt, sir. (BOWS) I shall be in your debt forever, sir (BOWS)
MOLIERE
(BOWS), No, sir.
MONTFLEURY
(BOWS) Yes, sir.
MOLIERE
(BOWS) No, sir.
MONTFLEURY
(WITH HIS MOST IMPRESSIVE BOW YET) I insist upon it, sir, with all my heart, sir.
MOLIERE
(SMILES, BUT WITHOUT BOWING) Then I thank you, sir, with all my heart and soul.
LA GRANGE AND BOILEAU (UPSTAGE)
As it were!
MONTFLEURY DOES A "TAKE," RELEALIZES HE'S BEEN HAD, AND EXITS WITH A "HUMPH!" THE OTHERS SHARE A GOOD LAUGH AT HIS EXPENSE.
LA FORET
You turned him deftly, gentlemen. Are you going to wear that hat about town, as it were?
LA GRANGE
(TOSSING IT TO LA FORET) Not on your life!
LA FORET DONS THE HAT, STRUTS AND STRIKES A POSE A LA MONTFLEURY...THEY APPLAUD.
MOLIERE
That hat wouold upstage the pope!
LIGHTS OUT...
SCENE 8
MUSIC.... PERHAPS A SINGLE VIOLIN PLAYING SOMETHING ROMANTIC. LIGHTS REVEAL MOLIERE AND ARMANDE SITTING IN CHAIRS ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER. MOLIERE HESITATES, SMILES, AND LIKE A SWIMMER FACING COLD WATER, PLUNGES IN...
MOLIERE
i want to ask you a question, Armande. I am goinig to blurt it straight out!
ARMANDE
Yes, Monsieur?
MOLIERE
You must call me Jean.
ARMANDE
Yes,Jean?
MOLIERE
Perhaps--not so straight out. Armande...(HE RISES NERVOUSLY, PACING AWAY) Do you think it is possible for a young woman to love a man who is--ah--not her age?
ARMANDE
Younger?
MOLIERE
No, older than she.
ARMANDE
(PLAYING HIM ALONG) Oh, I don't know. It would depend. There is something intriguing about some men of middle age.
MOLIERE
Ah!
ARMANDE
On the other hand, they are often straight-laced.
MOLIERE
Oh!
ARMANDE
Conservative. Set in their ways.
MOLIERE
(TAKEN ABACK) I see.
ARMANDE
And yet they have a certain maturity. (MOLIERE IS HOPEFUL) As for the young men...
MOLIERE
Yes--the young men?
ARMANDE
They are often so dashing and handsome!
MOLIERE
Oh!
ARMANDE
And virile. Some are so impetuous yet--virile.
MOLIERE
(ABASHED) Oh, I suppose virility is something to be desired.
ARMANDE
But there is a certain conceit in young men. (RISING, RECITING:)
"They fancy that everything must give way
Before their golden locks, s'il vous plait;
(CROSSING TO MOLIERE)
And think they've said the cleverest witticism
When they spout off their silly criticism..."
MOLIERE
Thank you for quoting my own play to me but--
ARMANDE
Sssh! (PUTS HER FINGER TO HIS LIPS AND CONTINUES:)
"But I value more highly the love of older men
Than all the giddy raptures of a youthful courtesan."
SHE WRAPS HER ARMS AROUND HIM AND KISSES HIS NECK. VERY PLEASED, HE RESPONDS WARMLY AS LIGHTS DIM OUT.
SCENE 9
MUSICAL BRIDGE. LIGHTS REVEAL MADELAINE'S BED-CHAMBER. MADELAINE BEJART IS SITTING AT HER VANITY FACING THE AUDIENCE, GAZING INTO AN (INVISIBLE) MIRROR. SHE IS PUTTING ON MAKEUP, WITH ARMANDE BEHIND HER. ARMANDE IS ADJUSTING HER HAIR, ETC., AS SHE LOOKS INTO THE SAME MIRROR. AFTER A MOMENT ARMANDE WALKS AWAY, THOUGHTFULLY.
ARMANDE
Sister...Jean has asked me to marry him.
MADELAINE
Oh?
ARMANDE
I think I shall.
MADELAINE
Oh!
ARMANDE
He is bright and famous,and if he is not handsome he is at least distinguished.
MADELAINE
Oh, Armande!
ARMANDE
Age is no barrier. Don't you think that people of different ages can live agreeably together if they respect each other?
MADELAINE
Armande...
ARMANDE
Why do you say, "Armande"? Why do you keep saying "Oh?"
MADELAINE
Armande...You are not in love with Jean-Baptiste Poquelain. You love the theatrical genius Moliere.
ARMANDE
And what of it? You love the theatre.
MADELAINE
But also Jean. You know we have had our--flings.
ARMANDE
I don't care about that if you don't. You never married.
MADELAINE
Oh, we spoke of it. He pressed me. But I loved him too much.
ARMANDE
Too much to get married?
MADELAINE
A man can feel trapped, little sister. Such a man needs the freedom to create, without ties, without obligation to wife and family. I loved him too much to marry him.
ARMANDE
Nonsense. How can marriage destroy a person?
MADELAINE
It can, believe me. (A BEAT) You know, I have had other men. I enjoy the intimacy. I like caring for men. I love them for what I can give them.
ARMANDE
I love them for what they can give me.
MADELAINE
That is the difference between us. Armande--there are young men your age who can give you what you need. Michel Baron, for example. Jean thinks he has great potential.
ARMANDE
That actor from the children's troupe? I haven't met this Baron, but I hear that the boy is not only callow but shallow.
MADELAINE
He's attractive and has a fine stage voice. Jean's trying to arrange a contract for him.
ARMANDE
Will you forget Baron, sister! If you're still carrying the torch for Jean--
MADELAINE
No, it's not that. But Armande..can you make him happy?
ARMANDE
I should think so! I am vivacious and attractive enough, and in the prime of life.
MADELAINE
(SIGHS) If there was nothing else to happiness...
ARMANDE
Happiness! Do you think you're making him happy, Madelaine? Your wearisome face, the sigh that says to him, we've meant so much to each other and don't you forget it! You're such an eloquent sigher, sister.
MADELAINE
(SIGHS) It comes with age.
ARMANDE
(BLUNTLY) I have a fresh face, sister. He'll appreciate that when he gets out of bed in the morning.
MADELAINE SLAPS HER, HARD. ARMANDE, SURPRISED AND WOUNDED, TURNS DOWNSTAGE. MADELAINE, OBVIOUSLY DISTRESSED, FOLLOWS...AND THEY SLOWLY TURN TO LOOK AT EACH OTHER...BLACKOUT.
END OF SAMPLE SCENES FROM ACT I.
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Arrangements
I will be happy to provide the full playscript for perusal if it is to be considered for production. There are two versions, one with 10 and the other with 12 characters. The 10 character cast includes Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelain), Madelaine Bejart, Armande Bejart, Charles Varlet de la Grange, Theresa du Parc, Michel Baron, Nicolas Boileau, La Foret, Montfluery, and King Louis XIV. Two nuns (Sisters of Charity) complete the cast in the 12-character version, which runs about 7 minutes longer.
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How to Contact me
Call me (Gordon Bennett) at 610-466-0693 or contact me by E-mail: OrcaGB@aol.com
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