Written by Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell, adapted from Molière
Directed by Wanlass Visiting Artist Daniel Passer
Scenic and lighting design by Xinyuan Li
Costume design by Aed McMillian
Scapin is a wild rollercoaster ride of a comedy engineered by the title character – a schemer and chaos-maker. The style that inspired Moliere was Commedia dell’Arte, a hugely popular theatrical form that originated in Northern Italy in the 16th Century where stock characters (archetypes) improvised around a loose scenario. Eventually, playwrights scripted the scenarios while leaving space for the actors to improvise bits or Lazzi. This adaptation by Bill Irwin and Mark O’Donnell follows this comedy lineage from Commedia to Vaudeville, Music Hall and even cartoon. Bill Irwin is one of our great contemporary clowns and clearly draws these skills to the page as the anti-hero, Scapin, goes on diversion after diversion on his way toward his goal of deceit and revenge. This is not to say that there aren’t deeper themes at play here. Particularly resonant is the divisiveness of the characters with parents preventing their children from marrying the ones they love in favor of wealth and social status. Much of this division is the result of information that is taken at face value which, when uncovered, proves false. But all of this is secondary to the escapade the characters and audience are taken on in this joyous farce.
