MOSES LAKE — Adventure and intrigue, romance, duplicity, danger and honor in Ancien Regime France come to the Moses Lake High School stage this weekend. The MLHS Drama production of “The Three Musketeers” opens at 7 p.m. Friday at the MLHS Theater, 803 E. Sharon Ave.

Performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The MLHS production is a Ken Ludwig adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel published in 1844. Director and drama advisor Sharon Winningham admitted she wasn’t sure about “The Three Musketeers” when it was recommended by a former drama student.

“I was desperately looking for a show to showcase the comedic timing of my boys,” she said. 

    D’Artagnan (Beck Ashton) makes the mistake of turning his back, and is about to pay for it, in the Moses Lake High School production of “The Three Musketeers,” opening Friday.
  

There wasn’t a lot out there that worked for high school, and Winningham said she hadn’t really thought about “The Three Musketeers” because she hadn’t really been interested in the 19th-century novel about 1625 France. Ludwig’s adaptation changed her mind. 

“(Ludwig) is a wonderful, very, very funny writer,” Winningham said. “As soon as read the script, I (said), ‘This is it.’”

“This peasant guy comes down to Paris to become a musketeer like his father,” explained Beck Ashton, who plays that guy, D’Artagnan by name. “He meets the Three Musketeers and then gets into trouble with the cardinal, and basically just messes up a bunch, and makes a lot of mistakes.”

D’Artagnan and his sister, Sabine, (Llayleni Fuentes) have caught the attention of Cardinal Richelieu (Gaige Anderson) who’s a really bad cardinal but really good at scheming for power. 

Anderson said playing a guy with no redeeming features was a challenge.

“It took me a while to find that character,” he said. “And I really think now he’s based on jealousy because he’s jealous of everyone that has more power than him.”

    Richelieu (Gaige Anderson, right) provides a means of murder to his wicked niece (Gabriella Whitney, left). The Moses Lake High School production of “The Three Musketeers” opens Friday.
  

The Three Musketeers (Noah Carlile, Andrew Rowley and Jaxson Duran) are the elite guard of Ancient Regime France, and they vow to go to battle against Richelieu and his schemes. 

“We serve as knights, kind of, to the king,” Rowley said. “We’re the trusty helpers and stuff, and we (have) an influence on D’Artagnan. He wants to be one of us.”

“Eventually he’ll get to the same level as us,” Duran said.

“But not yet,” Carlile said.

While the Three Musketeers are all for one and one for all, they’re also individuals, and that makes the play appealing.

“Every single character has their own personality,” Carlile said. 

    Cardinal Richelieu (Gaige Anderson, right) shows his displeasure with an underling.
  

Richelieu is aided by his niece the Countess de Winter, known as Milady, who looks innocent but isn’t. Among other things, she kills a nun who tries to stop her from killing Sabine. Gabriella Whitney, who plays Milady, said it was a struggle at first.

“(It required) a lot of studying and stuff, because I’m not that wicked, kind of evil person as this character. So I try my best to watch movies, read books, so I can present myself as (being) that wicked, whether it be in the walking, the acting, the talking.”

A swashbuckling tale naturally has a lot of swordplay, and Winningham the troupe started production with no knowledge of sword fighting. She credited Pen & Sword LLC with teaching her students how to wield their rapiers and knives properly. 

    D’Artagnan (Beck Ashton, front) is brought before Richelieu (Gaige Anderson, right) in chains in the Moses Lake High School production of “The Three Musketeers.”
  

The actors said it’s been a great play.

“You can’t not have fun with swords,” Carlile said.

Tickets will be available at the door or can be purchased at the MLHS website, www.mlsd161.org, under Moses Lake High School. 

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at [email protected].