“Maybe I enjoy it myself because I’m gay myself. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to it. It is a play of manners. It’s a fun play,” says David Latham who has done Restoration plays – often seen as plays where refinement meets burlesque. “I have done a lot of Restoration plays. I have always done them in period mainly because I love that period. For me to change that, is a huge thing. I’m hoping this will be successful.”

Latham, Principal of the Stratford Festival Conservatory for many years, has decided to do a bit of a twist. “When George Etherege wrote The Man of Mode in 1676, he meant it as a kind of satire of society at that time. But I wanted to do it in modern dress because I didn’t want it to appear like a museum piece. If we can make it more of a satire of today then it bears more relevance. With that, I didn’t only have to cut it quite a lot, we had to change words, we had introduce taxis and text messaging.”

Keeping the Toronto audience in mind, he makes the characters more relatable. “The leading characters of the play are very much of the society of the courts - they are not working people - we don’t have that now. I suppose you have people who are independently wealthy. Plus, I didn’t want it to take place in London. So there are references to Toronto.  That also meant that we will do it with Canadian accents. Instead of going to the malls where people talk, they go to a club.”

Despite the challenges in having to bridge two distant periods, he beams with satisfaction. “I’m very satisfied with the fact that it sits very well in this era, in a modern setting, with working with these actors, they work in such a way that they have complete characters and stories. They work really, really hard.” He is convinced that audience will enjoy the show. “They will enjoy seeing these very, very funny characters. I hope they will enjoy the language. It is a very witty play.”

The Man of Mode runs from Wed, Feb 8 to Sat, Feb 18 at 7:30 pm (with Sat matinees at 1:30pm). Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Mill Street, Building 49. $14.50. youngcentre.ca