‘The Country Wife’ Coming To The Little Theatre

“Women and fortune are truest still to those that trust ‘em,” says Alithea, a clear-eyed woman who marries for love and sets the moral of The Country Wife, William Wycherley’s 1675 comedy opening July 5 on the Town Players stage in Newtown.

Set in the extravagant society of Restoration London, the play is a bawdy and satiric treatment of jealousy, hypocrisy, marriage, the attractions of the theater, and sexual intrigue.

Three stories are entangled in the plot: the jealous Pinchwife’s efforts to keep the men of the town away from the simple country girl he married; the young gallant Horner’s fictional impotence that provides elegant ladies with a way to enjoy extramarital romance and still keep their “honor”; and Alithea’s rescue from an arranged marriage to a fool. The action spins from house to house, witty remarks fly, fans flutter, and ladies carouse; the “china scene” is deservedly famous.

“The play’s moral,” says director Ruth Anne Baumgartner, “is that people make their own trouble – and their own happiness.”

Janine Pixley of Newtown will be making her third appearance with Town Players as Lucy, the traditional clever lady’s maid.

Travis Finlayson of Sandy Hook is preparing Town Players debut with three Country Wife – a servant, a bookseller, and a parson. He also speaks the evening’s Prologue, written for him by the director.

Town Players Board member and seasoned performer Pamela Meister of Newtown plays Old Lady Squeamish, a rousing cameo role, a watchdog grandmother who is too gullible to do the job right.

Also in the cast of 15 are Elise Bochinski (Weston), Leslie Van Etten Broatch (Milford), Marguerite Foster (Seymour), Robert Jurgens (Patterson, N.Y.), Aaron Kaplan and Matthieu Regney (Bethel), George Lang (Fairfield), Kevin McElroy (Waterbury), Ashley Nichols (Woodbury), Rob Pawlikowski (Roxbury), Judy Raines (Westport), and Michael Stanley (Bridgeport).

The production will be embellished by dances from the period, choreographed by Leonia Python. Alexander Kulcsar’s set adapts some of the design principles of the Restoration stage. Lighting design is by Rob Pawlikowski.

Pamela Meister is producer, Pamela Lynn Henry is stage manager, and Elspeth Poile will execute lights and sound.

The Country Wife will open July 5 at The Little Theatre, on Orchard Hill Road in Newtown (immediately off Route 25). The production will continue on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm through July 28, with a Sunday matinee on July 21 at 2. Four season tickets will be raffled off at the opening performance.

Ticket donation is $12 for evening performances and $10 for the matinee. For reservations, call 270-9144.