"The Triumph of Love" at Shotgun Players

Shotgun Players production photo by Ben Krantz

 I wasn't sure what to think about this play going in. On one hand, Shotgun Artistic Director Patrick Dooley is very excited to be directing it, a friend tells me it's his favorite 18th-Century play, and when I read it, I was impressed with a lot of the word play, which is impressive for a translated work. On the other hand, I didn't feel like the play itself had a lot of substance. But it seemed like it ought to be fun, at least.

The Play

Pierre de Marivaux's script, translated by Stephen Wadsworth, is nothing if not complex. One might even call it convoluted. Princess Leonide, whose grandfather usurped the throne, has located the rightful heir to the throne, Agis, who is being raised and educated secretly by a reclusive philosopher, Hermocrate, and his equally reclusive sister, Leontine. Leonide decides to disguise herself (and her maid, Corine) as a man to gain access to Hermocrate's estate and get close to Agis. Things get complicated when Leonide falls in love with Agis from a distance, then decides to seduce both Hermocrate and Leontine to be allowed to stay. Add in Hermocrate's comical servants, Harlequin and Dimas, and there is much deception and co-option going on.

As love stories go, this one isn't terribly convincing--the whole thing takes place over a period of less than two days. But if you jut kind of go with the flow and enjoy the twists and turns and puns and malapropisms, it's a pretty fun ride.

The Production

As usual, Shotgun puts together a solid cast. Veronica Renner as Leonide has to carry a lot of the show, as that character (in one guise or another) is in nearly every scene, fast-talking and manipulating virtually everyone with layer upon layer of deception and misdirection. She handles it well, but at times she seems to lose her way, as she's so busy manipulating others that we kind of lose sight of the point of the story and who she really is.

The supporting cast is good. David Boyll and Mary Ann Rodgers, as Hermocrate and Leontine respectively, make good, stoic foils for Leonide's inventions. The servants are quite good, notably Jamin Jollo as the masked, acrobatic Harlequin and Wayne Wong as the tongue-twisting Dimas. The whole play takes place in Hermocrate's garden, designed beautifully by Malcolm Rodgers, with on-stage seats that let the actors interact a bit with the audience to good comic effect. All in all, it's a pleasing and fun performance.

The Bottom Line

I liked it. I don't love it, but I appreciate that it's a complex and difficult piece that sort of hints at having more depth to the story than is obvious at first glance. But ultimately it kind of reminds me of how my mother described her least-favorite Shakespearean comedy, which she noted was extremely aptly named: Much Ado About Nothing. Here, too, there is a great deal of convoluted plotting, and that's fun to watch and unravel, but ultimately that's in service of a fairly minor plot goal.

Still, it's a fun play and the performances are good. It's worth seeing, and it has been extended to run through April 30th.