Love Will Find a Way is a modern adaptation by Rolf McEwen of She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. Squire Richard Hardcastle's second wife Dorothy is determined that her spoiled and dull son, Tony Lumpkin, will marry her niece, Constance Neville. This strategy will enable her to keep Miss Neville's fortune, which is a collection of valuable jewels. But the young lovers have other plans, including Miss Neville's intention to marry the handsome George Hastings. Mr. Hardcastle has definite plans for his daughter Kate. He intends her to marry the son of his old friend, Sir Charles Marlow. It is young Marlow's bad habit to be hesitant in the presence of lovely ladies of his own social status, but he is capable of clever conversation when talking to bar maids and common girls. The Hardcastle family is expecting the arrival of young Marlow and his friend Hastings. While traveling, the young men stop at the village inn to ask directions. Tony Lumpkin, who is carousing as usual with his drinking buddies, conceives the idea of persuading the men that they have lost their way and will have to spend the night at an inn. He directs them to the Hardcastle house which he highly recommends, although he warns of the eccentricities of the owner and his family. Neither young Charles Marlow nor Squire Hardcastle realizes that both are victims of a deception, and the squire is much incensed at the bold and rude behavior of his friend's son. George Hastings, as soon as he sees Constance, puts two and two together. The pair agrees to keep Marlow in ignorance and to pretend that Constance and Kate simply happen to be stopping for the night at the inn. When introduced to Kate, young Marlow never once looks at her face. Later in the evening when he sees her going about the house in the plain house dress her father insists that she wear, he mistakes her for the bar maid. She encourages the deception in order to find out if he is really as inept with women as he appears to be. In her bar maid's guise she is pleasantly surprised to find him possessed with a graceful and ready wit. Comic situations are created when Tony attempts to help Constance elope with her casket of jewels. Due to a series of ridiculous misunderstandings these efforts come to nothing, and at last Squire Hardcastle sets everything right for both pairs of lovers.
Rolf McEwen earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Puget Sound and a Master of Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. He studied art, music, history, and literature in Rome and Vienna. He has written plays including The Honeymoon, Mad Love, Deceits of Samson, Ladies of Learning, Inspector Strangelove, Love Will Find a Way, The War, The Joseph Story, Esther the Queen, The Institute, and Cranking Up America. He created adaptations for Moliere plays including The Miser, The Middle Class Gentleman, The Fan, and The Hypochondriac. He wrote a how-to book for theatre arts programs, For Love of Drama, describing how to create successful and financially profitable high school drama programs. His flair for ridiculous comedy is apparent in his humorous book about how to cope with a boring job, entitled Survival Tactics for Office Workers. He also wrote Wealth - A Book of Proverbs, and a collection of poetry entitled Loving Life. McEwen has been directing high school plays for 30 years, and has produced 71 full-length plays for the stage. He teaches high school writing, literature, speech, and drama, and was selected for awards including Who's Who among College Students and Who's Who among Teachers. See his books at Amazon.com and rolfmcewen.com.
