Witness impassioned lovers and the loved overwhelmed.

Directed shrewdly by Loretta Greco,  this is the language of love in Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux’s French romantic farce, The Triumph of Love continuing live and in person at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, April 6.  This whimsical tale runs two hours and 15 minutes with one intermission and Joanna Strapp stepped in for Marianna Bassham as  Léonide for this performance. This production is also available to stream. Click here for more information and for tickets.

The Triumph of Love waxes poetic about love and then some in this elaborate love story that contains as many declarations of love as lighthearted comedy.  Though The Triumph of Love was written in 1732, it contains insightful ideas, humor, and a classic storyline that connected with its era just as effectively as it does a contemporary audience in delightful ways.

If love is a battlefield, Alison Altman as confident, passionate, and outspoken Léonide is a commander.  In a layered and juicy love story,   Princess Léonide pursues naïve and sheltered Agis, portrayed nobly by Robert Kellogg, who is sequestered in Hermocrate’s country retreat.  However, in order to get close enough to Agis, Altman and Avanthika Srinivansan as her humorous maid Corine must disguise themselves as men and execute a delicate, devious, absurd and yet brilliant scheme to win her true love by using all the wiles she knows how.

Junghyun Georgia Lee’s serene scenic design boasts a lovely garden landscape embellished with lemon trees, florals, vine covered walls, and a stone bench while Fan Zhang intertwines classical and contemporary French flair to Zhang’s original music and sound design.  The painted skyline fades from turquoise to pastels to aquamarine through Christopher Akerlind’s romantic lighting expressing the progression of the day.  Lee also demonstrates 18^th century French fashion beautifully in elegant silk gowns with petticoats, fingerless gloves, colorful cravats, refined vests and boots as well as finely detailed frock coats with gold embellishments and multicolor garments.

Led by Alison Altman as Princess  Léonide whose complex character is somewhat of an antihero,  The Triumph of Love champions a remarkable cast and Marivaux’s script offers each character an opportunity to shine during the production.  Occasionally addressing the audience,  Altman’s relentlessly determined Léonide has some earmarks of both hero and villain.  She is conscious of her power to influence and manipulate while pulling the strings of each character for love’s sake.  Resisting her charms is near impossible and Altman masters this multidimensional character with finesse though you may be occasionally torn about her decisions.

Altman’s Léonide shares enchanting chemistry with nearly everyone, but her brief encounters with Kellogg as Agis are sweet and splendid.  They are adorable together and it’s easy to root for this pair.  The plot thickens pretty quickly and most of this lighthearted farce is not meant to be taken seriously.  

Strapp  as Léontine and Nael Nacer as Hermocrate portray virtuous and staunchly reasonable siblings who have shut out the world with their nephew Agis to pursue the intellectual life.  The entire cast delivers sharp comic timing and while Vincent Randazzo as Harlequin get his share of laughs, Strapp and Nacer’s moments of exasperation, panic and self aware humor is first rate as exemplified in one instance where Nacer looks around and softly wonders, ‘Why am I standing here?’  With realizations so innocent and captivating, it won’t take you long to love them both. 

Statements such as ‘God forbid there should be love in that house’ and  ‘Perhaps if I could be hilarious for awhile, I could amuse myself to death’ are just a couple of the hilarious quips uttered by Vincent Randazzo as Harlequin, Hermocrate’s valet.  Rambunctious and mischievous, Randazzo’s frank delivery and gossipy nature are only outdone by his comical facial expressions.  With Patrick Kerr as practical gardener and straight man Dimas, they make a wonderfully humorous duo.   

Madcap and absorbing, bring love to the front lines with The Triumph of Love continuing live and in person at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, April 6. This production is also available to stream.  Click here for more information and for tickets.