Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince
Molière
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Nothing can be more unlike The Pretentious Young Ladies or Sganarelle than Molière's Don Garcia of Navarre. The Théâtre du Palais-Royal had opened on the 20th January, 1661, with The Love-Tiff and Sganarelle, but as the young wife of Louis XIV., Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV., King of Spain, had only lately arrived, and as a taste for the Spanish drama appeared to spring up anew in France, Molière thought perhaps that a heroic comedy in that style might meet with some success, the more so as a company of Spanish actors had been performing in Paris the plays of Lope de Vega and Calderon, since the 24th of July, 1660. Therefore, he brought out, on the 4th of February, 1661, his new play of Don Garcia of Navarre. Molière wished to create a counterpart of Sganarelle, the type of ridiculous jealousy, and to delineate passionate jealousy, its doubts, fears, perplexities and anxieties, and in this he has succeeded admirably.
- Summary by Translator Henri Van Laun
Cast list:
DON GARCIA, Prince of Navarre, in love with Elvira: Kurt
DON ALPHONSO, Prince of Leon, thought to be Prince of Castile, under the name of Don Silvio: Adrian Stephens
DON ALVAREZ, confidant of Don Garcia, in love with Eliza: Tomas Peter
DON LOPEZ, another confidant of Don Garcia, in love with Eliza: alanmapstone
DON PEDRO, gentleman usher to Inez: Larry Wilson
DONNA ELVIRA, Princess of Leon: Rapunzelina
DONNA INEZ, a Countess, in love with Don Silvio, beloved by Mauregat, the usurper of the Kingdom of Leon: Sonia
ELIZA, confidant to Elvira: TJ Burns
Stage Directions and Editing: ToddHW (1 hr 51 min)