About the Play:

The Matchmaker is a full-length farcical comedy by Thornton Wilder. Cunning, crafty and thoroughly modern, Dolly Gallagher Levi knows a good catch when she sees one. So when the wealthy but stingy merchant Horace Vandergelder hires her to find him a wife, Dolly doesn't need to look far to find his perfect mate. The Matchmaker is an uproarious romp that reminds us to embrace the unexpected in our lives.

The Matchmaker follows Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy old merchant residing in Yonkers. He is so rich in 1800 that he decides it's time to take a wife and hires a matchmaker. But Dolly Gallagher Levi is no ordinary matchmaker. She's a force of nature, with a plan of her own. Levi soon becomes involved in the affairs of the hearts of all those around her – including Vandergelder's niece, his store clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby, assorted young and lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant, where this swift farce inevitably runs headlong into hilarious complications. Indeed, after a series of slapstick situations involving mistaken identities, a secret rendezvous behind carefully placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court – everyone involved eventually finds themselves paired with a perfect match. A delightful, deliciously funny classic, The Matchmaker is astonishingly modern and is sure to resonate with audiences today.

The Matchmaker premiered in 1954 at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and was already an international success at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End when it opened on Broadway in 1955. The play was later adapted into the smash musical Hello, Dolly. It has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional repertory, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 7 female, 9 male

What people say:

"Loud, slap dash and uproarious ... extraordinarily original and funny." — The New York Times

"Rolls along merrily and madly and the customers are convulsed." — New York Journal American

"The lines of Wilder are brilliant, sage, and witty." — New York Daily News

About the Playwright:

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an acclaimed American novelist and playwright whose works, exploring the connection between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, continue to be read and produced around the world. He also enjoyed enormous success with many other forms of the written and spoken word, among them teaching, acting, the opera, and cinema. A three time Pulitzer Prize winner and the only winner for both fiction and drama, his many honours include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.