Wine, Wit & Mrs Wellfed: The Beau Defeated

The first of three evenings with the Bridge Theatre Company, exploring the witty work of Mary Pix.

This first of three plays penned by Mary Pix lays down themes for the series: wives, wealth and widows. It is the tale of Mrs Rich, widow of a wealthy citizen, who aspires to elevate herself socially into court circles. We follow her exploits as she is lured into the clutches of a series of con artists, such as Mrs Trickwell and Lady La Basset and her taciturn footman, Vermin. Ah, but will all end well…?

The Beau Defeated is typical of Mary Pix’s comedies in presenting plenty of well-developed parts for women, with characters spanning an unusually wide range of age and social class – far more than any of the plays written by men of the period. Also in-keeping with Pix’s writing, a clever and clear-sighted maid is central to driving the plot.