"Ms. Thomas' previous and similar rollicking version of Moliere's Les Femmes Savantes delighted audiences off-Broadway in 1991, in a production starring Jean Stapleton as Philamente, a blossoming literary lady on the verge of coming into her own. It was re-imagined in 1993 at ACT in San Francisco, with many productions throughout the country since then. During the Salon movement of the 17th century, women, thirsty for knowledge and freedom, began to read, discuss and absorb all the learning they could now get their hands on. Frequently, into that mix came sycophants and opportunists, to take advantage of the budding but not fully formed intelligence of the Women's Movement. Enter Trissotin, a mediocre poet with a lot of sex appeal and little literary talent, who all but seduces Philamente, determined to be at the forefront of the movement. Equally determined to marry him off to her younger daughter (who just wants to marry her sweetheart Lycandre and raise children), she bullies her meek husband into tacitly agreeing, and the machinations that follow between family members, visiting poets and maids who refuse to learn proper French are predictably and delightfully Molière. This version strays from a strictly literal translation of the play, often employing anachronisms in the rhymed couplets that may appall purists, but have delighted audiences since its original inception. In this new version, there are 6 women and 4 men, and the familiar "Voice of Reason", present in almost every Moliere play and always a male, is now, for the first time, FEMALE! If you want your audiences to roll with laughter as they recognize their hilarious selves in the midst of a "Feminist culture," this version is for you"--Information provided by publisher.

THE STORY: Clitandre seeks the hand of Henriette, a match heartily approved of by her father, Chrysale. However, his wife, Philaminte, has other plans for her younger daughter--namely marriage to Trissotin, a foppish wit who panders to Philaminte's intelle

THE STORY: A jazz-age screwball comedy riff on Molière's biting satire of pretense and learning. Betty wants to marry Dicky. Her mother Phyllis, a self-proclaimed intellectual and political activist, has another man in mind--namely, the hack poet an

For the 400th anniversary of Moliere's birth, Richard Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays--themselves towering achievements in English verse--are brought together by Library of America in a two-volume edition One of the most accomplished American poets of his generation, Richard Wilbur (1921-2017) was also a prolific translator of French and Russian literature. His verse translations of Molière's plays are especially admired by readers and are still performed today in theaters around the world. "Wilbur," the critic John Simon once wrote, "makes Molière into as great an English verse playwright as he was a French one." Now, for the first time, all ten of Wilbur's unsurpassed translations of Molière's plays are brought together in two-volume Library of America edition, fulfilling the poet's vision for the translations. The second volume includes the elusive masterpiece, The Misanthrope, often said to occupy the same space in comedy as Shakespeare's Hamlet does in tragedy; the fantastic farce Amphitryon, about how Jupiter and Mercury commandeer the identities of two mortals ; Tartuffe, Molière's biting satire of religious hypocrisy; and The Learned Ladies, like Tarfuffe, a drama of a household turned suddenly upside down. This volume includes the original introductions by Richard Wilbur and a foreword by Adam Gopnik on the exquisite art of Wilbur's translations.

"The Big Book of Molière Monologues brings you over 160 New Molière Monologues! Classical Monologues they haven't seen before! You get winning insight into seventeen Molière plays, and an understanding of the funniest playwright who ever walked the boards! With precise stylistic/acting advice from adaptor and master actor, Timothy Mooney, you can showcase your classical abilities a their very best!"--Cover

White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing is the story of Gail Lukasik’s mother’s “passing,” Gail’s struggle with the shame of her mother’s choice, and her subsequent journey of self-discovery and redemption. In the historical context of the Jim Crow South, Gail explores her mother’s decision to pass, how she hid her secret even from her own husband, and the price she paid for choosing whiteness. Haunted by her mother’s fear and shame, Gail embarks on a quest to uncover her mother’s racial lineage, tracing her family back to eighteenth-century colonial Louisiana. In coming to terms with her decision to publicly out her mother, Gail changed how she looks at race and heritage. With a foreword written by Kenyatta Berry, host of PBS's Genealogy Roadshow, this unique and fascinating story of coming to terms with oneself breaks down barriers.