‘The Country Wife’ By Town Players Opens At Little Theatre This Weekend

“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 this weekend 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 his Town Players debut with three roles in Country Wife – a servant, a bookseller, and a parson. He also speaks the evening’s Prologue, written for him by the director.

Another 16 actors from Newtown and area towns complete the cast. The production will be embellished by dances from the period, choreographed by Leonia Python, while 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 opens 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.