300 years later, the scheming still works on stage

Okanagan College Media Release

The Beaux’ Stratagem was penned more than 300 years ago, but the humour, plot, characters and twists hold up, and the troupe performing this play is as fresh as they come.

Okanagan College’s Red Dot Players are presenting their first-ever production in mid-March, and have chosen a wickedly funny 18^th-Century comedy to use for their debut. The Beaux’ Stratagem was originally written by George Farquhar in 1707, and has been adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig (both renowned modern playwrights). The play tells the tale of two young men who find themselves running short of funds and who settle upon a plan to leave London and hunt for a wealthy wife for at least one of them. The two pretend at being master and servant, switching roles as they move from town to town.

“It really survives as a great piece of comedy, and challenges the actors,” explains director Jeremy Beaulne, an Okanagan College professor from Penticton. “There’s a cynical undertone about marriage that permeates the play – something not altogether unfamiliar in much of this era’s entertainment. Add to that a host of character and plot twists and it works beautifully to engage and entertain the audience.”

The Beaux’ Stratagem opens on Friday, March 18^th at 7:30 p.m. in the Okanagan College Lecture Theatre at the College’s Kelowna Campus. It plays Saturday at 7:30 and a matinee is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for seniors and students. Tickets are available at Mosaic Books, Okanagan College’s bookstores and at the door.

The Red Dot Players troupe was formed last fall, when Beaulne and colleagues in the College’s English department realized there was an appetite among students, staff and alumni to flex their theatrical energies, talents and ambitions. “Today we have more than 30 volunteers who are finding that opportunity for self-expression that we hoped this troupe and play would provide,” says Beaulne.

For more information, Beaulne can be contacted at [email protected] or those interested can visit www.kalwriters.com/stratagem.htm, or check out the Facebook page (Okanagan College Theatre).