Roberta Maxwell

The Dryden Ensemble opens its new season with “Versailles: Intrigue & Envy.” Performances will take place on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church Solebury, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, Pa; and on Sunday, November 13 at 3 p.m. at Seminary Chapel, located on the campus of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer Street.

“Versailles: Intrigue & Envy” features actors Roberta Maxwell and Paul Hecht in a dramatic musical entertainment combining music from the court of Louis XIV with readings from the celebrated letters of Madame de Sévigné and from letters and memoirs written by Captain d’Artagnan of the Musketeers, John Evelyn, Voltaire, and others.

The script recounts tales of court intrigues, the original d’Artagnan (captain of the Musketeers), Louis XIV’s persecution of the Protestants, poisonings in Paris, and the invasion of England by William of Orange. The players will perform music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and François Couperin, keyboard solos by Louis Couperin, lute solos by Jacque Gallot and others, and movements from Marin Marais’s Pièces en trio as well as his Suite in B Minor for bass viol, performed by Lisa Terry, a virtuoso player of that instrument.

Maxwell, known to Princeton audiences for the role of Edna in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance at McCarter Theatre, has performed with Ethan Hawke in Chekhov›s Ivanhov at Classic Stage in N.Y., on Broadway in Equus, Othello, Henry V, and The Merchant of Venice, and off-Broadway in Stevie, Ashes (Obie Award), Mary Stuart, A Whistle in the Dark (Obie Award), and many others.

Paul Hecht

Hecht made his debut on Broadway as the Player in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Tony nomination 1968). Other Broadway appearances include Night & Day with Maggie Smith, Invention of Love (Tom Stoppard), 1776 (original company), The Rothschilds, Shaw’s Caesar & Cleopatra, and Pirandello’s Henry IV (both with Rex Harrison). TV audience members may recognize him from his appearances over the years as Charles in Kate & Allie and as several unsavory characters on Law and Order.

The Dryden Ensemble includes Jane McKinley, oboe; Vita Wallace, violin; Lisa Terry, bass viol; Daniel Swenberg, lute and guitar; and Webb Wiggins, harpsichord.

Tickets are $25 for general admission and free for students with an ID, and may be purchased at the door or at drydenensemble.org.