FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2007

Lantern Theater Company's 2007/08 season continues with Molière's comic lesson in marriage, The School for Wives. Arnolphe, an aging bachelor, has a brilliant plan. Determined to avoid an unfaithful wife, he'll marry Agnes, a girl too innocent, and too ignorant, to fool him. But in his house of bumbling servants, awakening passions, and open windows for determined suitors, Arnolphe's plan is bound to backfire. Incomparable Molière, the great master of French farce, crafts the swift unraveling of a pompous man's plan to mold the perfect wife.

"The joy in Molière's plays comes from his sheer comic brilliance and from the psychological complexity that he invests in his characters. Molière has always influenced the Lantern's aesthetic outlook, and we are very excited to finally put his work on our stage." –Charles McMahon, Artistic Director, Lantern Theater Company

Lantern Theater Company broadens its commitment to classic works by tackling Molière for the first time in the company's fourteen year history. After much success with the Commedia dell'Arte style in the 2004 production of The Comedy of Errors, the Lantern returns to a similarly broad, bawdy and embellished theatrical tale with The School for Wives. Seventeenth-century playwright Molière (Tartuffe, The Misanthrope), is widely considered the father of French comedy. Once scandalous for his irreverent skewering of the privileged classes, Molière's hilarious satires are still relevant today for his incisive critique of human folly.

"Much of Molière's comedy lies in the eccentric rigidity of his characters. The School for Wives is unique among Molière's plays because Agnes, at first so naïve, has the capacity to evolve. Her developing logic overtakes Arnolphe's inflexible need for control, making both characters richer and more sympathetic." –Kathryn Nocero MacMillan, Director, The School for Wives

This scintillating story of sex and scheming will be told by a seasoned Philadelphia-based cast. Greg Wood (multi-Barrymore nominee and winner for Death of a Salesman) makes his Lantern debut assuming the role of Arnolphe, the antithesis of the leading men for which he has gained recognition in roles such as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. Lee Ann Etzold (2007 nominee for the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist) exercises her physical comedy background, as seen in Lantern's The Comedy of Errors, alongside Joshua Browns (Associate Artistic Director of Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company) as Arnolphe's servants. Luigi Sottile, last featured at the Lantern as the serious and celibate Father Welsh in The Lonesome West, plays the dashing desired suitor of Arnolphe's fiancé. Making her Lantern debut as Agnes is Joanna Liao, a New York-based actor whose credits include previous Molière work at People's Light and Theatre Company.

Lantern Theater Company's Literary Manager Kathryn Nocero MacMillan (QED, The Lady from the Sea) directs this production of comic obsessions. The artistic team also features acclaimed Philadelphia designers: Set Designer Nick Embree, Costume Designer Millie Hiibel (multi-Barrymore nominee, including Lantern's La Ronde and the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist), Lighting Designer Janet Embree, and Sound Designer Christopher Colucci.

Audience members will have an opportunity to gain insight into The School for Wives production process, context and themes through Lantern's variety of discussions, lectures and symposium throughout the run. With this expanded series, the Lantern continues the essential dialogue with its audience to extend the theatrical experience long after the play ends. (See below for full list of special events.)

The School for Wives begins previews on Friday, November 9, with an opening on Wednesday, November 14. The closing performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 2. Tickets are $15-$35, with discounts for students, seniors, and groups of 12 or more. Tickets can be purchased online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the box office at 215.829.0395.

THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES SPECIAL EVENTS

LECTURE SERIES:
Commedia & Comedy, Politics & Plays
Monday, November 5 at 7pm
Join Florent Masse, PhD, Professor of French Linguistics at Princeton University, for a fun, informative lecture that addresses the comedic tradition and contemporary politics that influenced Molière's sparkling satire, The School for Wives. $15 admission includes coffee and pastries from Whole Foods Market.

MEET THE ARTISTS
Thursday, November 15 at 9pm
Wednesday, November 21 at 4pm
New for the 2007/08 season, this post-show event features members of The School for Wives cast and creative team onstage in dialogue with the audience.

DIRECTOR'S DISCUSSION
Friday, November 16 at 7pm
A pre-show conversation with The School for Wives Director, Kathryn Nocero MacMillan. Free for all ticket holders for the production, this event includes complimentary refreshments from Whole Foods Market.

SYMPOSIA:
Class, Cuckoldry, and Comedy
Saturday, December 1 at 4pm
An older man, a younger woman, a cheating heart... what is it about this comic premise that makes it so enduring? Molière scholar Roxanne Lalande, PhD, Professor of 17th C. French Literature at Lafayette College, joins the artistic team behind The School for Wives onstage after the performance for a lively discussion about sex, class, and cuckolds.

REVIEWING PRESS are invited to attend Opening Night of The School for Wives on Wednesday, November 14 at 7pm. Call 215.829.9002 x106 to reserve seats.

OTHER PRESS may arrange for tickets for the first week of production, November 13-18, 2007, by calling 215.829.9002 x106.

Cast and Creative Team
By Molière
Directed by Kathryn Nocero MacMillan
Joshua Browns as Alain
Lee Ann Etzold as Georgette
Joanna Liao as Agnes
Luigi Sottile as Horace
Greg Wood as Arnolphe
Nick Embree - Set Designer
Millie Hiibel - Costume Designer
Janet Embree - Lighting Designer
Christopher Colucci - Sound Designer

WHERE
Lantern Theater Company
At St. Stephen's Theater
10th and Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia

TICKETS
Single Tickets: $15-$35; discounts available for students, seniors and groups of 12 or more

By Phone: 215.829.0395
On-Line: www.lanterntheater.org
In Person: St Stephen's Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets

Box Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. One hour prior before curtain on performance days.

WHEN
November 9 - December 2, 2007

ABOUT THE 2007/08 SEASON
After The School for Wives, Lantern Theater Company's 2007/08 season continues with Skylight by David Hare (February 1-24, 2008) and Othello by William Shakespeare (March 28-April 27, 2008). The Lantern is also proud to welcome back by popular demand The Screwtape Letters, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis, adapted by and starring Anthony Lawton, for a limited engagement run (January 2-13, 2008). The 2007/08 Season began with The Lonesome West, which was extended by popular demand through October 14, 2007.

For tickets and information, please contact the Lantern Theater Company box office at 215.829.0395 or visit us online at www.lanterntheater.org.

ABOUT THE LANTERN
Founded in 1994 by Charles McMahon and Michael Brophy, Lantern Theater Company has emerged as one of the most successful professional theaters in the Philadelphia region. Lantern Theater Company is committed to an authentic and intimate exploration of the human spirit in its choice of classic, modern and original works.

The Lantern commits itself to being a vibrant, contributing member of its community. To that end, each season the Lantern produces four main stage productions, a variety of special events, and Illumination, the Barrymore-nominated education program designed to engage local students and adults alike in the world of theater and nurture their own artistic expression. This program reaches the Greater Philadelphia area in four vital ways: outreach in area schools, matinee performances for students, training teaching artists for after school programs, and our audience enrichment series of lectures, discussions, and symposia for each production of our season.

Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City Philadelphia since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue. Since the inception of Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, the Lantern has received 10 awards and 46 nominations, including nominations in 2006 and 2007 for the Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award. Recent Barrymore wins include Outstanding Overall Production of a Play (for Richard III) and Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play (Peter Pryor in Richard III).

The 2007/08 season at Lantern Theater Company marks the company's 14th year of creating high-quality professional theater in Philadelphia.