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The Triumph of Love
The Triumph of Love
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Author: Pierre Marivaux Translated by: James Magruder Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Format: Softcover # of Pages: 57 Pub. Date: 1994 ISBN-10: 0822214156 ISBN-13: 9780822214151 Cast Size: 3 women, 4 men
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About
the Play:
The Triumph of Love is a full-length comedy by Pierre
Marivaux, translated by James Magruder. This timeless
comedy, by one of the most performed French playwrights, makes
self-reflection and self-consciousness both the substance and
obstacles of the action, as it focuses on the tireless efforts of
Princess Léonide to woo Agis and his guardians.
The Triumph of Love clearly demonstrates the ageless
affinity of laughter and love. Princes Leonide, in disguise, arrives
in the garden of the philosopher, Hermocrate. She has come to try and
win some time in his retreat for she has fallen in love, from afar,
with Hermocrate's student, Agis, who is the "legitimate"
prince of the realm over which Leonide rules. Knowing that Hermocrate
is steadfastly against women joining the retreat (except for his
sister, Leontine, who helps run the place), Leonide puts on the
disguise of a man, calling herself Phocion, and brings along her
servant Corine, under the alias Hermidas. Phocion proceeds to woo all
the people at the retreat depending on what they figure out about
her/him. Hermocrate sees through the disguise so Phocion convinces
him she has fallen in love with him and until Hermocrate gives her
some time to prove herself, she will not leave. When Phocion meets up
with Leontine, who buys the disguise, Phocion persuades her he is in
love with her so she will petition Hermocrate to let Phocion stay.
All the while, the jester and gardener, who now know of the disguise,
are being bought off by Leonide and wooed by Corine. All of this just
so Leonide can find some time alone with Agis. Once she corners Agis,
she first wins him over as a friend, then later reveals she is a
woman. Since he has been taught to loathe love, and women as the
object of love, he is at first resistant; but soon, attracted to
Phocion, and he so very innocent, he is won over and falls in love.
Now all the major players in the retreat prepare to marry Phocion
(who by now calls herself by all different names). When they all meet
in the courtyard, in wedding attire, Leonide not only reveals to
Leontine that she is a woman, but reveals to all that she is the
illegitimate ruler – so often feared and reviled – she is not
hateful, loves Agis, and wants to abdicate the crown to him. The two
young lovers go off together, leaving the older philosopher and his
sister stunned and silent.
The Triumph of Love was first presented by the
Comédie-Italienne of Paris in 1732. The much-admired translation by
James Magruder was first produced in 1993 at Center Stage in
Baltimore, where he was dramaturg. The
play enjoyed widespread acceptance among leading regional and college theatres
looking for something to spice up
the
standard diet of Moliere.
Cast: 3 women, 4 men
What people say:
"Marivaux's command of comedy
is so adroit that the exploit moves as effortlessly as a master chess
game, while the humor is pure delight…The present translation by
James Magruder…maintains such a delicious soufflé lightness to it
all, that amusing phrases which might have jarred here merely
enchant." — New York Post
"Thanks to the talent of
translator/dramaturge James Magruder, this
typically frantic, light French farce comes alive en Anglais,
acquiring a surprisingly lyrical depth and sexiness that registers
somehow as topical as our beloved American soaps today." —
Warfield Business Record
"James Magruder
retains the flavor of Marivaux's flowery
locutions,…his translation also accommodates the kind of
anachronisms that give the charade a contemporary edge." —
The New York Times
About the Playwright:
Pierre Marivaux (1688-1763), commonly referred to as
Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist. He is
considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th
century, writing numerous comedies for the Comédie-Française and
the Comédie-Italienne of Paris.
James Magruder is a playwright and award-winning translator
who lives in Baltimore. He teaches at Swarthmore College and the Yale
School of Drama. |
Pierre Carlet de Marivaux, translated by Stephen Wadsworth
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