Scapin

The crafty Scapin, servant to the household of Geronte, jumps into the story as he first promises to help in the affairs of his neighbor's son, Octave, then to aid in those of his own charge, Leander (Geronte's son)

Both young men have fallen in love with unlikely, and penniless beauties, and both need money to help solve their dilemmas

Scapin knows a good ruse will always win the day and he drafts Sylvestre, Octave's servant, into his schemes.Convincing Sylvestre he's a wonderful actor, Scapin has him play characters who will deceive the family patriarchs into parting with large sums of money

The final scene of the first act is a vaudeville/music hall version of Molière's famous scene in which Scapin spins a tale of kidnapping, foreigners and ransom

Once the money is obtained, however, Scapin pushes further in order to exact a little revenge on those he's served

Thinking Geronte has said something nasty about him, Scapin sets out to teach him a lesson. The roguish words, however, are Scapin's own lies and stories finally coming back to him, his revenge back- fires and he must flee

In the end however, Scapin's schemes aid in revealing the penniless beauties to be the exact right mates for the young charges - being of high birth after all since they are discovered to be the missing children of both patriarchs - and Scapin returns to his post, with the pleasant punishment of having to marry the maidservant of one of the daughters

There is a final chase and dance among all the participants, which, inevitably, becomes the raucous, delightful curtain call

This adaptation of Molière's 325-year-old farce Les Fourberies de Scapin follows - with some alterations - the play's original structure. It keeps the play in period setting while adding a late twentieth century spin to the language and action

"This Scapin, directed by Irwin from his felicitous adaptation with Mark O'Donnell, would probably have gone over big with the same audience who first saw Molière's Fourberies de Scapinin Paris in 1671" - NY Times