Tuesday, November 9, 2021

7:30 pm PST

The Lying Valet / The Male Coquette

by David Garrick

Directed by Cara King

Poster for the Lying Valet and the Male Croquette showing shadows dancing.

CAMPUS VACCINATION POLICY: Beginning October 18, 2021, all attendees at indoor or outdoor social events on campus must be fully vaccinated and must present proof of full vaccination status at entry to the event. Proof of a negative PCR test result from within 72 hours prior to the event will be accepted only for those individuals who have an exemption. Individuals who are not yet eligible to receive a vaccine (ages 11 and younger) are not required to show proof of vaccination or provide pre-entry testing results. Please see the Caltech Together website for more information.

These two short comedies by the great 18th-century playwright David Garrick feature witty ladies and gentlemen and their even wittier servants in pursuit of love, money, and a good laugh. In The Lying Valet, manservant Sharp schemes to keep his master's fiancée ignorant of their poverty until the knot is firmly tied. In The Male Coquette, aristocratic Melissa disguises herself as a man to discover which of her handsome suitors is lying to her. Schemes, duels, disguises, romance, and mirth ensue, showing why the "Garrick fever" which seized London in 1741 is just as infectious nowadays.