Is There a Doctor in La Maison?

UD’s new troupe of all stars does Moliere. Plus, The Grand goes psychedelic, Delaware Theatre Company gets serious, and more.

No one created a funnier hypochondriac than the French dramatist, Molière. In “The Imaginary Invalid,” his masterpiece performed by UD’s Resident Ensemble Players January 16-February 14, an excessive worrier, Argan, schemes to marry off his daughter to a doctor, thereby guaranteeing himself long-term medical care. Argan’s quick-witted maid, Toinette, “personifies the clever servant who actually knows more than the people she works for,” says director Sandy Robbins.

When Molière wrote his classic in 1672, he was suspicious of the medical profession, largely because the cure for everything was the same. “It didn’t matter if you had cancer, a cold, arthritis,” Robbins says. “You got an enema.”

The satire is part of the inaugural season of the Resident Ensemble Players, a professional acting company consisting of regional theater actors and graduates of UD’s Professional Theatre Training Program. UD joins Yale, Harvard, and Brown as having an influential resident company.

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The real perk?  Delawareans can see the classics—that includes Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Chekhov and Wilde—at affordable rates. For more, call 831-2204.  —Maria Hess
 

Are You Experienced?

When The Pink Floyd Experience rocks the Grand January 31, the show won’t be just another brick in the wall. Six musicians, aided by animation and a live-action mix of the cult classic film, “The Wall,” will recreate the psychedelic atmosphere made famous by one of the most influential rock bands in history. Expect enormous flying pigs, which commemorate the band’s 1977 “Animals” album, and other interesting albeit unfortunate incidents associated with swine. Flick the Bics. The show will, like, totally blow your mind. For more, visit grandopera.org, or call 652-5577.
 

 

Many Children Left Behind

Delaware Theatre Company producing artistic director Anne Marie Cammarato considers “No Child,” a play by Nilaja Sun, the centerpiece of the theater’s 30th anniversary season. The drama should spark conversation about the way kids are served—or not served—by America’s public schools. “I hope audiences come away hearing new voices, the voices of our country’s at-risk youth,” Cammarato says. “These are not voices we tend to hear often. And we can learn a lot by listening to them.” The play runs January 14-February 1. For more, visit delawaretheatre.org, or call 594-1100.
 

 

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A First String Performance

Photograph by Basil Childers

The Cypress String Quartet has entertained audiences around the world, including a gig at the Kennedy Center that earned stellar reviews from The Washington Post. The quartet hits Bethel United Methodist Church Hall in Lewes as it headlines for Coastal Concerts January 31. Coastal Concerts has been bringing classical music to Delaware’s coastal communities since 1998. For more, visit coastalconcerts.org, or call (888) 212-6458.

Our Best of Delaware Elimination Ballot is open through February 22!

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