Details

Or the Provok'd Wife, written in 1697. The young and beautiful Lady Brute is married to the boorish Sir John. Both married for their own ends - she for his money and he to get her into bed. The result is a most miserable match, driving him to drink and her to thoughts of infidelity. Encouraged by her niece, Belinda, and tirelessly pursued by Constant, her would-be lover, Lady Brute is torn between her conscience and her desire. Meanwhile, Constant's best friend, the cynical Heartfree, is forced to question his lifelong aversion to love. Things leap from one crisis, to another with the interference of the vain Lady Fancyfull and her meddling French maid, Mademoiselle. Plot and cross-plot delightfully collide in this classic comedy of the sexes.

Cast/Performers

Caroline Quentin (Lady Fanciful), Alexandra Gilbreath (Lady Brute), Jonathan Slinger (Sir John Brute), Isabel Adomakoh Young (Cornet), Pete Ashmore (Servant / Porter), Les Dennis (Colonel Bully), Natalie Dew (Bellinda), Polly Edsell (Lovewell), Kevin N Golding (Justice), Alison Halstead (Constable), John Hodgkinson (Heartfree), Rufus Hound (Constant), Nickcolia King-N'Da (Tailor), Steve Nicolson (Rasor), Carl Prekopp (Lord Rake), Ben Roddy (Servant / Watch), Rosalind Steele (Pipe), Sarah Twomey (Mademoiselle), Toby Webster (Treble)

Creatives/Company

Author: John Vanbrugh
Company: Royal Shakespeare Company
Director(s): Phillip Breen, Renny Krupinski (fights), Ayse Tashkiran (movement)
Design: Mark Bailey
Lighting: Tina MacHugh
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Sound: Dyfan Jones