Rich Girl

Rich Girl is a play by Victoria Stewart, which updates Henry James's 1880 novel Washington Square to the present. (The novel has also been adapted to the 1947 play by Ruth and Augustus Goetz and the classic 1949 film, both entitled The Heiress.) Plot Playwright Stewart retains novelist James's plot structure essentially intact but updates the characters: James's Catherine Sloper becomes Stewart's Claudine, an insecure, plain-looking young woman. Dr. Sloper becomes Eve Walker, Claudine's bitter, divorced mother, a wealthy TV financial wizard, who is grooming Claudine to take over her position as head of a philanthropic foundation. Morris Townsend becomes Henry, Claudine's handsome beau, an avant-garde theatre director who is deeply in debt. Lavinia Penniman becomes Maggie, Eve's personal assistant and confidante. The tone of the first act is light comedy as Henry courts Claudine and asks her to marry him. The second act turns dramatic as Eve, believing Henry is interested in Claudine only for her money, threatens to disinherit her if she marries him. In her insecurity Claudine believes he is her only chance for love and happiness. When Henry then leaves her, Claudine is heartbroken and becomes embittered but self-confident. Notable productions