The Three Musketeers on stage Jan. 25-Feb. 3

This adaptation for the Augustana stage is based on the timeless swashbuckler by Alexandre Dumas, a tale of heroism, treachery, close escapes, and above all, honor.

The story, set in 1625, begins with D’Artagnan, who sets off for Paris in search of adventure. Along with D’Artagnan goes Sabine, his sister, the quintessential tomboy, who quickly becomes entangled in her brother’s adventures. They encounter the greatest heroes of the day – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the famous musketeers – and join forces with them.

"This play by Ken Ludwig follows the very basic plot line of Dumas’ book, but Ludwig changed around quite a few details and left out a few plot points from the 700-page book to make it fit the signature comedy style of a Mel Brooks movie," writes dramaturg Ashley Massey.  

"Prepare for Cavalier life at its finest with sword fighting, quips galore, romance, betrayal, and all the laughs we can mus(ke)te(e)r."

Jeff Coussens, Augustana professor of theatre, will direct.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Jan 25-26 and Feb. 1-2; and at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27 and Feb. 3.

Tickets are $15; or $12 for seniors 60+ and Augustana staff; $10 for students and children; free for Augustana students.

D’artagnan is played by Peter Alfano and Sabine by Elise Campbell.

Alfano is a junior majoring in biology and theater from Knoxville, Ill. He has performed in the past as Reverend Hale in "The Crucible," Constable in "The Accidental Death of an Anarchist," and George Palmer Putnam in "Amelia Earhart."

Campbell is a junior majoring in theatre and women’s and gender studies from Mundelein, Ill. She has previously appeared on the Augustana stage in "Crimes of the Heart," "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens."

Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright who has written more than 26 plays and musicals, including six shows on Broadway and seven in London's West End. His first Broadway play, "Lend Me A Tenor," won two Tony Awards and was called "one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post.

About "The Three Musketeers"

In France near the end of 1870, Alexandre Dumas took his last breath, but that was not the end of his story. His legacy has lived on through some of his most loved and revered classics, such as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers."

Since film became a form of media, these stories alone have been recreated almost 200 times. "The Three Musketeers" itself has even been turned into different stage shows (operas, plays, musicals). The first version of it, an opera, having opened during Dumas’s lifetime. Named No. 90 on the Centaur Classics list of The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time, it is no surprise that this story continues to live on and is known by so many people even almost 200 years after its publication.

The story also has become very popular in other genres and media artforms, most notably in comic books. The first iteration of this was also the first iteration of a company called Classics Illustrated, created in 1941. Classics Illustrated would go on to release 168 more issues of classic books illustrated in comic book form, including the sequel to "The Three Musketeers Twenty Years After" (Issue #41), and Dumas’s other famous novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo" (Issue #3).

Ken Ludwig was commissioned to turn a classic novel into a play for the 2006 season at The Bristol Old Vic in Bristol, England.