For Immediate Release
March 31, 2008

Cañada College Theater Arts Presents: The Three Musketeers - and the Famous Female Duelist of France

Original World Premier Introduces a Swashbuckling Woman to the Classic Story. 

Cañada College presents The Three Musketeers and the Famous Female Duelist of France, a world premier of an original adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel by Anna Budd.

Performances will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 3; Friday, April 4; Saturday, April 5; Friday, April 11; and Saturday, April 12. A special matinee will be held on Sunday, April 13 at 2pm. All shows in the Flex Theatre, Building 3, Room 129, on the Canada College Campus: 4200 Farm Hill Boulevard, Redwood City. Tickets are $12 general admission, and $8 for students and seniors. Tickets will be available at the box office, or reservations can be made by calling (650) 306-3396.

Playwright Anna Budd introduces an authentic historical figure into the classic story: La Maupin, a 17th century French swordswoman, adventuress and opera star, who was said to have been "born with masculine inclinations.” She sang, dueled, and intrigued in the streets of Paris very close to the same period in which the Three Musketeers - Athos, Porthos, and Aramis - first encountered D’Artagnan, the young adventurer freshly arrived to Paris, eager to prove himself worthy to become a Musketeer.

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan and La Maupin struggle to protect the Queen Anne’s secret – her love affair with the Duke of Buckingham – as the manipulative and sinister Cardinal Richelieu employs the Milady Du Winter in his efforts to expose the Queen and weaken the young and inexperienced King Lois XIII. Much dueling, intrigue, drunken brawls, and love affairs ensue in this gender-bending swashbuckling adventure!

Anna Budd directed Cañada College’s fall production Twilight Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith. She joined the faculty this fall after working last year at the College of the Siskiyous in Shasta.

For more information, contact Robert Hood, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at hoodr@smccd.edu or 306-3340