Educating Agnes

The newly-appointed Scots Makar, Liz Lochhead, returns to the verse comedies of Moliere for Educating Agnes, a new Scottish adaptation of his 1692 play, L’ecole des Femmes. Directed by Tony Cownie, this new production marries Lochhead’s prose with Moliere’s celebrated comedy.

Intimidated and stung by a succession of unfaithful women, Arnolphe (Peter Forbes) has resorted to taking charge of an innocent young orphaned girl, Agnes (Nicola Roy) with the intention of marrying her when she comes of age. But when she falls in love with the much younger Horace (Mark Pendergast) Arnolphe resorts to extreme measures to stop them from seeing each other, which leads to a conclusion he could never have imagined.

A Scottish adaptation of Moliere, or a ‘MacMoliere’, as it has come to be known, may sound more than a little unusual to those familiar with the playwright’s work, which entirely consists of rhyming couplets. But there is just something about the rhythm, delivery and wit of Moliere that allows it to flow so freely from the Scottish tongue, and what’s more, the use of Scots makes it all the more amusing.

Following her successful adaptation of Tartuffe and Le Misanthrope, or Miseryguts, Lochhead’s latest foray into the scripts of one of the most successful comic playwrights is a welcome addition to modern Scottish theatre. And although it’s set in the 17th century, shades of contemporary Scotland are never far from view. Themes of morality, loneliness, sex, betrayal and the fear of the true power of women, are just a few of the many subjects that Lochhead tackles in this play, delivering a fairly stinging verdict on a man who tries to create the perfect woman for himself – and no one else.

However, of all the varied and worthy topics present in both the original and Lochhead’s new adaptation it is the idea of age, and more specifically of growing older, that proves to be the underlying premise of Educating Agnes. Here, the fear of passing one’s prime drives the characters to extremes in order for them to be seen as young and desirable.

Featuring a number of strong performances from Forbes as the much-maligned Arnolphe, and Kathryn Howden and Stephen McNicoll as his intellectually challenged servants, Cownie’s production is a timely and funny piece that proves the magic of Moliere is very much alive, and that his plays deserve a place on Scotland’s stage.