Theatre--Performance

The Rehearsal is a rip-roaring madcap satire play-within-a-play which boasts a lavish display

of 16th and 17th century period costumes of original design. The comic farce

features silly players who galumph and posture their way through the play, making

sport of the social conventions and the pompous theatrical practices of the time. Nothing makes sense, or does it?

The Rehearsal is about a playwright who believes he is savvy to the newest trends in

drama and literature. When he invites two gentlemen to sit and witness

his “future hit,” they find it to be cockamamey and utterly absurd.

 

The Rehearsal, performed first in 1671, penned by the infamous court wit, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, is 60 years post-Shakespeare (just past the Cavalier/

Musketeer period in history). Importantly, it is probably the very first example of the

Theatre of the Absurd. Mel Brooks is said to have based his work “The Producers”

on this hilarious play. Theatre of the Absurd author Harold Pinter was also a fan.

More exciting: Lafayette will be the 2nd city in the United States to produce this play (The American Shakespeare Center in Virginia was the first to perform the play in their 2011 season).

This comedy is produced and directed by Lauren Greene Whyte, a longtime theatre actress, writer, director with Lafayette Community Theatre, Abbey Players and Eavesdrop Theatre. She considers the play noteworthy for its uniqueness: “I am providing fantastic and colorful costuming at a level not unlike a Broadway production." (Whyte has been costuming for over 30 years.)

Other spectacular features being performed nightly are the period dance numbers performed with live instrumentation with music and instruments contemporary to the period, by Alice Wallace.  

Another audio sensation is the spectacular voice of alto soloist, Virginia Warnken, a native of Lafayette, who is presently a graduate student with Yale School of Music in New York City.  Ms. Warnken has allowed us to use her recording Handel’s “Solomon,” and we are delighted to further create the Restoration atmosphere with this fine Baroque music.

The Fine Arts Camp kids at Cité des Arts, as well as Lisa Osborn and Christy Leichty are creating a Hobby Horse which will spotlight on the production’s festivity and historic customs of the 17th century.

The Rehearsal is a brilliant meta-theatrical play staging subjects both modern and

historical, designed to appeal to all audiences.