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She stoops to conquer 20038/17/2023 News has spread that Sir Charles Marlow (Hardcastle's friend, and father to young Marlow) is on his way, which will reveal Hastings's identity as beloved of Constance and also force the question of whether Kate and Marlow are to marry. Kate asks for the night to prove that he can be both respectful and lively.Īct IV finds the plots almost falling apart. She decides to play the part, and they have a lively, fun conversation that ends with him trying to embrace her, a move Mr. Meanwhile, Kate is now dressed in her plain dress and is mistaken by Marlow (who never looked her in the face in their earlier meeting) as a barmaid to whom he is attracted. Hardcastle to pretend they were stolen to dissuade Constance, a plea she willingly accepts until she realizes they have actually been stolen. Tony has stolen the jewels, but Constance doesn't know and continues to beg her aunt for them. Kate asks her father for the chance to show him that Marlow is more than both believe. Where Hardcastle is shocked at his impertinence, Kate is disappointed to have seen only modesty. Tony and Hastings decide together that Tony will steal the jewels for Hastings and Constance, so that he can be rid of his mother's pressure to marry Constance, whom he doesn't love.Īct III opens with Hardcastle and Kate each confused with the side of Marlow they saw. She is nevertheless attracted to him, and decides to try and draw out his true character. When he has his first meeting with Kate, she is dressed well, and hence drives him into a debilitating stupor because of his inability to speak to modest women. Marlow has a bizarre tendency to speak with exaggerated timidity to "modest" women, while speaking in lively and hearty tones to women of low-class. They decide they will try to get her jewels and elope together. However, they decide to keep the truth from Marlow, because they think revealing it will upset him and ruin the trip. Constance finds Hastings, and reveals to him that Tony must have played a trick. Hardcastle expects Marlow to be a polite young man, and is shocked at the behavior. When Marlow and Hastings arrive, they are impertinent and rude with Hardcastle, whom they think is a landlord and not a host (because of Tony's trick). When Marlow and Hastings (Constance's beloved) arrive at the pub, lost on the way to Hardcastle's, Tony plays a practical joke by telling the two men that there is no room at the pub and that they can find lodging at the old inn down the road (which is of course Hardcastle's home).Īct II sees the plot get complicated. Tony's problem is also that he is a drunk and a lover of low living, which he shows when the play shifts to a pub nearby. The problem is that neither Tony nor Constance loves the other, and in fact Constance has a beloved, who will be traveling to the house that night with Marlow. Hardcastle's spoiled son from an earlier marriage, Tony Lumpkin. Hardcastle's niece Constance is in the old woman's care, and has her small inheritance (consisting of some valuable jewels) held until she is married, hopefully to Mrs. Kate is very close to her father, so much so that she dresses plainly in the evenings (to suit his conservative tastes) and fancifully in the mornings for her friends. Hardcastle's old friend and a possible suitor to his daughter Kate. Hardcastle live in an old house that resembles an inn, and they are waiting for the arrival of Marlow, son of Mr. Goldsmith can remedy this problem through the play about to be presented.Īct I is full of set-up for the rest of the play. It wasn't enjoyable enough to sit through and there are better things out there to see.She Stoops to Conquer opens with a prologue in which an actor mourns the death of the classical low comedy at the altar of sentimental, "mawkish" comedy. Despite this being one of my favorite play, I had to watch this particular production over a three night period. On the other hand, I watched some of her scenes at double speed so that may have had something to do with it. Constance started with a strong performance but later began to sound as though she were one of the Chippettes (imagine a rat drowning in a bathtub if all the air was replaced with helium). Hardcastle delivers her lines in cringeworthy fashion. Hastings seems as though he would have made a better Marlow. Some of the performances are quite grating at times. The tone, pacing, casting and acting are all a bit off. Unfortunately, they aren't able to carry the production themselves. It's a shame I haven't seen them elsewhere. Hardcastle (Ian Redford) and Kate (Susannah Fielding) do great jobs. If you have not seen it before, please don't let this version be your first time. She Stoops to Conquer is a witty and hilarious play.
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