Armand; or The Peer and The Peasant (Unabridged)

Although almost completely obscure today, this romantic melodrama was arguably a bigger hit for actress/playwright Anna Cora Mowatt than her theatre history-making comedy “Fashion” (1845.) Wisely cashing in on the craze for settings and characters made popular by Alexander Dumas’ “Musketeer” novels still being published in serial form when the play debuted, this drama focuses on the adventures of sweet, beautiful, peasant maiden Blanche, who discovers she may be the illegitimate daughter of the scheming Duke de Richelieu. Her sweetheart, the noble Armand, must prove that he is clever, bold, and courageous enough to defend her honor – Even if that means confronting the lecherous King Louis XV himself!