The Imaginary Cuckold and School for Husbands

Molière wrote some of the most durable and penetrating comedies of all time. The Imaginary Cuckold and The School for Husbands are two of his grand farces of marriage and misunderstanding, one set in Paris and the other in the provinces.

In The School for Husbands, a tyrannical husband-to-be seeks to isolate his ward, while unwittingly carrying her messages of devotion to her lover. In The Imaginary Cuckold, an enraged husband imagines his wife is unfaithful, but is reluctant to defend his honor.

Translated by Richard Wilbur

Directed by Rosalind Ayres

Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg

Two L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performances featuring:

The School for Husbands:

Brian Bedford as Sganarelle

Emily Bergl as Isabelle

Dakin Matthews as Ariste

Juliet Mills as Lisette

Christopher Neame as Magistrate

Lloyd Owen as Valére

Alan Shearman as Notary

Rhashan Stone as Ergaste

Olivia Williams as Léonor

The Imaginary Cuckold:

Brian Bedford as Sganarelle

Dakin Matthews as Gorgibus

Christopher Neame as Magistrate/Gros-Rene

Moira Quirk as Celie

Darren Richardson as Lelie

Carolyn Seymour as Celie’s maid

Alan Shearman as Villebriquin/Madame Ralative

Joanne Whalley as Sganarelle’s wife

Includes an interview with actor Brian Bedford.

Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in February of 2010.

Lead funding for The School for Husbands and The Imaginary Cuckold was made possible with support from the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.