Two River Theater launches season with ‘The School For Wives’

Two River Theater will open its 2014 – 2015 season with Molière’s classic comedy The School for Wives, which is translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur and directed by Mark Wing-Davey.

About The School For Wives

The School For Wives is about a rich, middle-aged bachelor named Arnolphe (Robert Stanton), whose plan to groom his innocent young ward (Phillipa Soo as Agnès) into the “perfect” wife suddenly goes awry.

Can this pompous bachelor really be a match for a rival suitor (Korey Jackson as Horace), inept servants (real-life sister-and-brother Bree Elrod and Carson Elrod as Georgette and Alain), and the wit of his soon-to-be bride?

The School For Wives Cast

Rounding out the company of this French farce are Billy Eugene Jones (Chrysalde), Steven Rattazzi (Enrique/Notary), and Keith Reddin (Oronte).

Director Mark Wing-Davey’s production will be set in France in the late 1950s, with a production design inspired by the films of Jean-Luc Godard (one of the leaders of the French “New Wave” film movement) and the influential street photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Wing-Davey first came to prominence in the United States with his highly acclaimed 1992 production of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest at New York Theatre Workshop. Since then he has worked extensively in New York City for NYTW, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public Theater.

Also an actor, he has appeared in such cult classics as Absolutely Fabulous and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in his native England. He is Chair of Graduate Acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Performances and tickets

Performances for The School For Wives will begin in Two River’s Rechnitz Theater, on Saturday, September 13 and continue through Sunday, October 5. The opening night performance is Friday,
September 19 at 8pm. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.