Director Jonathan Munby on The Dog in the Manger

Director Jonathan Munby discusses his production of Lope de Vega’s The Dog in the Manger.  A master of Spain's Golden Age, Lope de Vega explores love, fidelity and class with wry humor in The Dog in the Manger. The haughty countess Diana rejects her many aristocratic suitors only to fall in love with her handsome young secretary, Teodoro. To pursue this forbidden love, Diana must sabotage her suitors, deceive her friends and concoct ever-more elaborate schemes. Lope balances high tragedy and low comedy, examining the savage whims of the human heart. Jonathan Munby makes his STC debut directing the East Coast premiere of David Johnston’s translation of this rarely performed classic. Munby, a frequent director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, has been praised for his “high-octaneâ€� productions (The Sunday Times).  The production runs February 10 to March 29, 2009, in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre (450 Seventh St. NW).