The Learned Ladies

A CapU Theatre Production

This play, first written in the late 17th century, gets a whole new look set in a period best described as “baroque meets punk." The dialogue remains true to the original Richard Wilbur translation but infuses a healthy dose of fun and modern tropes. The Learned Ladies is a fun farce full of flirting, frolicking, flaunting, and festive frivolity. Henriette and Clitandre, two young lovers, wish to wed, but Henriette’s mother, Philamente, conspires with her clique of learned ladies to have Henriette marry the ‘scholarly’ poet Trissotin. With Henriette's father under the rule of his wife despite favouring her match to Clitandre, the stage is set for a battle of the witty and not so witty, all posturing under intellectual pretensions while true love hangs in the balance. An effervescent comedy, The Learned Ladies takes delight in satirizing the pretension of intellectual snobbery, and remains one of Moliere’s most popular plays.

Act 1: 1 hour 20 minutes Act 2: 40 minutes