Marivaux & 18th Century French Comedy and Other Special Events Set for Hartford Stage's La Dispute

Hartford Stage translator and dramaturg ElizaBeth Williamson will host special events for La Dispute, featuring Marivaux & 18thCentury French Comedy, Translating and Adapting the Classics Now, and more.

All events are in connection with Hartford Stage's production of Marivaux's La Dispute, part of Classical Repertory for a New Generation, the theatre's new initiative to produce two classics in repertory each season. La Dispute is in repertory with Shakespeare'sMacbeth, both directed by Darko Tresnjak, the first shows of the Tony Award-winning theatre's 50th Anniversary Season.

"We're going to open with La Dispute, in which Marivaux tests the very 18th Century view that you can determine the truth of anything, given the right way to prove it. If we recreate the Garden of Eden, can we prove whether men or women are more likely to cheat? But when you start to experiment with human beings, as the play shows, things don't always turn out the way one might hope. What seems light-hearted at first turns cruel fairly quickly," says Williamson.

La Dispute, directed by Tresnjak, will run September 12 through November 10. From the era of Dangerous Liaisons comes this seductive, wicked and provocative comedy. A Prince and his mistress dispute the question of all questions: "Who was unfaithful first? Man or Woman?" The only way to find the answer is to conduct an illicit experiment - about the origins of love itself.

Key Dates and Information - La Dispute

Press Night: 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 21
Opening Night: 6:30 p.m. on Friday, September 27

The production runs September 12 through November 10. Evening performances are most Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinee performances are Sundays; and select Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m.

Tickets for all shows start at $25. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more and for students (recommended for ages 14 and up). For a more specific schedule of performances or to buy tickets for La Dispute, please call the Hartford Stage box office at860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.

Marivaux & 18th Century French Comedy - Sunday Afternoon Discussion

Following the matinee performance of La Dispute on Sunday, September 22, Professor Virginia Scott will join translator and dramaturg ElizaBeth Williamson. Scott is a Professor Emerita at UMass Amherst, and the author of The Commedia dell'arte in Parisand Molière: A Theatrical Life.

Translating and Adapting the Classics Now - A Panel Discussion

Following the matinee performance of La Dispute on Sunday, October 27, La Disputetranslator ElizaBeth Williamson will be joined by eminent contemporary translators and adapters to discuss the complex process of bringing a classic from another language to the stage.

At the Library with Hartford Stage

At 12 p.m. Wednesday, October 9, Hartford Stage's ElizaBeth Williamson and guests will explore the themes of La Dispute and Macbeth at the Hartford Public Library Atrium next to the new Billings Forge Café. Hartford Public Library; 500 Main Street, Hartford.

Dinner + Design

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 18, join members of the Costume, Scenery and Technical Departments for a catered pre-show dinner. Get an up-close look at costumes sketches from each show and discuss the design and production. Join us for a stylish evening followed by a fabulous show! Reservations required. Tickets are $25. Cash bar.

Producer's Table

At 5:45 p.m. Thursday, September 26, come early and bring your appetite for an exclusive backstage tour, followed by a catered pre-show dinner in our upper lobby! Managing Director Mike Stotts will join you for a behind-the-scenes discussion about what goes into producing a play. Reservations required. Tickets are $25. Cash bar. This is an UPPER LOBBY event, accessible only by stairs.

History of Hartford Stage

Now entering its 50th Anniversary season, Hartford Stage is one of the nation's leading resident theatres, known internationally for producing classics, provocative new plays and musicals, and neglected works from the past, as well as a distinguished education program that reaches 21,000 students annually. Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Margo Jones Award for Development of New Works, OBIE awards, two New York Critics Circle Awards, a Dramatists Guild/CBS Award and an Elliot Norton Award, and has produced nationally renowned titles, including the Broadway productions of Enchanted April and Our Country's Good and the Off-Broadway productions of The Orphans' Home Cycle and The Carpetbaggers Children. In the fall of 2013, the Hartford Stage production of A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder will open at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. The leading provider of theatre education programs in Connecticut, Hartford Stage's offerings include student matinees, in-school theatre residencies, teen performance opportunities, theatre classes for students (ages 3-18) and adults, afterschool programs and professional development courses.

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