The Country Wife Dramaturgical File
Selected Production History
January, 1675: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Covent Garden, London, England
First Production
Performed by The King's Company
The first performance of The Country Wife was done in the Theatre Royal, and historians claim that Wycherley wrote the play with the cast already in mind and tailored the script to their talents, hence why it was written in the opening of the script. All of the actors in the original performance were said to be skilled and famous comedians of the 1660s, especially Elizabeth Knepp, who played Lady Fidget. Edward Kynaston, who played Harcourt, was famous for playing female roles, and as a result historians argued that audiences never took him seriously as a male actor and it brought his performance level down. The play had a very positive initial run, despite several scenes, especially the china scene, causing offense.
The Stage of The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1674.
Image of The Drury Lane Theatre, London, watercolour by Edward Dayes, 1795; in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California.
A modern image of Theatre Royal, which is still in use today.
The Stage of The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1674.
December, 1990: Mermaid Theatre
London, England
Directed by: Richard Trethowan
Overall, this production of The Country Wife is considered exceedingly dull with the exception of the lead actor, Peter Wyngarde, and it was described that the "theatre gods scowled, instead of smiled, at this revival". The cast struggled with illness throughout the entire production and Peter himself had to have an understudy perform his role for several weeks while he was sick. This run, overall, was a massive flop for London audiences and the Mermaid Theatre.
October, 2007: Theatre Royal Company at Haymarket
Haymarket, London, England
Directed by: Johnathan Kent
Kent's production of The Country Wife at Haymarket was a traditional performance, following the story in proper 1675 fashion. According to the Guardian's reviewer Michael Billington, while the performance hit the mark in terms of historical accuracy, it did not dig deep enough to expose the corrupt society beneath and was rather a flashy, bawdy, and surface-level production.
January, 2013: American Shakespeare Center at Blackfriars Playhouse
Staunton, Virginia
Directed by: No director, as this company directs together as a collaborative
This version of The Country Wife, done as part of a play festival at Blackfriars Playhouse, was rehearsed for only 20 hours and the first complete performance of the play was during the first dress. Despite all of that, the show was hilarious and poignant, to the point that the reviewer Eric Minton said that "it was as tight and well-oiled, if not better, as productions that run for months on Broadway."
September, 2015: Spicywitch Productions
Off-Off Broadway, New York City, New York
Directed by: Phoebe Brooks
Spicywitch's adaptation of The Country Wife, which they renamed The C*nt, takes a very modern approach to the play: Horner approaches the audience and announces that he no longer feels the need to conform to gender binaries, which leads the characters to think he's no longer interested in women. The set was incredibly minimal and the costumes very modern. The reviewer, Sarah Weber, gave it a positive review and described it as "thoughtfully engaging and funny".
April, 2018: Southwark Playhouse
London, England
Directed by: Luke Fredericks
This revival of The Country Wife at Southwark Playhouse was a huge production in London: it had over 5+ reviews, more than any other production I could find. Despite all the attention and the gorgeous set, costumes, and props, this production fell flat. Fredericks relocated the play to the 1920s, but failed to change any of the language which confused audiences, and reviewers struggled to understand how some of the conventions of the play would make sense in the 1920s where "anything goes".
June, 2018: Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester, England
Directed by: Jonathan Munby
Interestingly enough, Chichester's revival of The Country Wife was in direct competition of the one at Southwark Playhouse - they opened only a month apart, and were running at the same time. Of the two, Chichester's was considered significantly better. This revival of the show is brought to modern-day Soho with disco dancing. While it received more positivity than Southwark did, reviewers still struggled with the time shift, believing that a huge part of the play is the time period it was set in.
August, 2019: The Rude Mechanicals
District of Columbia, United States
Most Recent Production
Directed by: Alan Duda
The most recent revival of The Country Wife is one that took place in DC by the theatre company called The Rude Mechanicals. They took a very interesting "film-within-a-play" approach and made the play seem as if it was a 1950s sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience. DC critic Darby DeJarnette found this to be incredibly effective and "a very clever way of doing production".
