‘Triumph of Love' lives up to its title
Wadsworth's work was so well-received in its 1992 debut staging at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ, that the folks at American Theatre Magazine referred to it as 'the greatest play that Shakespeare and Molière never wrote.' They're not wrong.
Advertisement
'Triumph of Love' is enjoying a colorful, full-throttled production at Boston's Huntington Theatre under
Léonide (Allison Altman) is a princess by circumstance who leaves her court to return the throne to Agis (Rob Kellogg), its rightful heir. Accompanied by her maid Corine (Avanthika Srinivasan0), Léonide is driven by doing the right thing, but has also fallen in love with Agis's 'nobility, elegance, charm, and beauty.' Because his crown was usurped by Léonide's ancestors, Agis has been brought up to despise the princess. She must convince him otherwise, but must go through his controlling guardians, Léontine (Marianna Bassham) and her brother Hermocrate (
Both are middle-aged, loveless, and well-trained to resist frivolous emotions. This makes them easy fodder, given commedia dell'arte sensibilities and 18th century morality. In disguise, Léonide's plan is for Agis to fall madly in love with her, so they can wed, and for Léontine and Hermocrate to fall madly in love with her, so the guardians will come to understand her feelings for their ward. She recruits the assistance of Hermocrate's smarter-than-he-looks gardener Dimas (Patrick Kerr ), and ever-observant valet, Harlequin (Vincent Randazzo).
Advertisement
Patrick Kerr and Vincent Randazzo in "Triumph of Love."
Liza Voll
Much of the hard work in this play is making sure Léonide's deceptions come across as honorable rather than cruel, and that her love appears authentic. Failure to do so would paint Léonide and Corine as malicious instead of heroic, and everyone else as hapless victims rather than romantic fools.
Not to worry. This brilliant corps of performers handles the script with ease and grace, and never loses sight of the comedy that drives everything. They also approach the work with a contemporary cadence and air of spontaneity that makes it immediately accessible.
Altman as Léonide wins everyone over with her immense charm, and her passionate expressions of love are so earnest that they make that emotion palpable. This passion breaks down the essence of Léontine's painful repression, which results in Bassham's master class in slow-burn emotional transformation. It erodes the wall that supports Nacer's ramrod-stiff Hermocrate, leaving in its place both laughs and sympathetic pathos. Her passion gently replaces Agis's innocence, which Kellogg so brilliantly manifested, with enlightenment. And it rallies the support of Kerr's stoic Dimas and Randazzo's delightfully sardonic Harlequin.
All this takes place in a gorgeously rendered three-tier country estate garden (designed by Junghyun Georgia Lee), complete with lemon trees, a rhododendron, overhanging tree branches, and grass. There's a backdrop of a cloud-swept sky that subtly changes hues (designed by Christopher Akerlind) to complement the shifting humors of the characters. A soft underscoring of original music (designed by Fan Zhang) does the same. Period French costuming (also designed by Lee), with its classical elegance, offers attractive eye candy.
Advertisement
Everything about this play and this production is intoxicating. Eighteenth century theater goers sure missed out; modern-day Bostonians should not.
THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
Play by Pierre Carlet de Marivaux. Translated/adapted by Stephen Wadsworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. At the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. Through April 6. Tickets: $29-$165. 617-266-0800,
Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Legendary '70s Star, 77, Still Performs With Her Band, Announces New Concert
Legendary star of stage and screen is still delighting audiences even at 77 years young. On May 11, she announced the dates and location for her first performance engagement of summer 2025. "The first of @blbuckley's summer engagements begins this week at @joespub in NYC! On May 15, 16 & 17, Ms. Buckley and her band share a highly anticipated song list with eager audiences in six fabulous shows (7:00 & 9:30 nightly). Hope to see everyone there!🤗❤️. There's still time to pick up a ticket at… In another post, the description of the concerts says that the Tony-winning star will perform in "six intimate, must-see performances." "This limited engagement offers a rare opportunity to experience one of Broadway's most revered voices up close with her unforgettable live performance. Hailed as the 'Voice of Broadway,' Buckley, a master storyteller, combines her consummate acting skills with an extraordinary ensemble of musicians to create a unique and mesmerizing evening of music." It also details who her band members are: music director Christian Jacob, Tony Marino on bass, Keita Ogawa on drums and Jordan Peters on guitar. Buckley is perhaps best known for her stage work. She won a Tony for originating the role of Grizabella in the original Broadway staging of Cats in 1983. She was also one of the stars to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in the mid-1990s, and she was nominated for her second Tony in 1998 for Triumph of Love. She is also on the original Broadway cast recording of 1776, in which she played Martha Jefferson, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in which she played Miss Alice Nutting. But TV fans know her from the hit 1970s sitcom Eight is Enough where she played a widowed schoolteacher who married Tom (Dick Van Patten) after his wife died. In recent years, Buckley has been starring as Trial Division Chief Lorraine Maxwell on Law & Order: SVU.
Boston Globe
14-03-2025
- Boston Globe
‘Triumph of Love' lives up to its title
Wadsworth's work was so well-received in its 1992 debut staging at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ, that the folks at American Theatre Magazine referred to it as 'the greatest play that Shakespeare and Molière never wrote.' They're not wrong. Advertisement 'Triumph of Love' is enjoying a colorful, full-throttled production at Boston's Huntington Theatre under Léonide (Allison Altman) is a princess by circumstance who leaves her court to return the throne to Agis (Rob Kellogg), its rightful heir. Accompanied by her maid Corine (Avanthika Srinivasan0), Léonide is driven by doing the right thing, but has also fallen in love with Agis's 'nobility, elegance, charm, and beauty.' Because his crown was usurped by Léonide's ancestors, Agis has been brought up to despise the princess. She must convince him otherwise, but must go through his controlling guardians, Léontine (Marianna Bassham) and her brother Hermocrate ( Both are middle-aged, loveless, and well-trained to resist frivolous emotions. This makes them easy fodder, given commedia dell'arte sensibilities and 18th century morality. In disguise, Léonide's plan is for Agis to fall madly in love with her, so they can wed, and for Léontine and Hermocrate to fall madly in love with her, so the guardians will come to understand her feelings for their ward. She recruits the assistance of Hermocrate's smarter-than-he-looks gardener Dimas (Patrick Kerr ), and ever-observant valet, Harlequin (Vincent Randazzo). Advertisement Patrick Kerr and Vincent Randazzo in "Triumph of Love." Liza Voll Much of the hard work in this play is making sure Léonide's deceptions come across as honorable rather than cruel, and that her love appears authentic. Failure to do so would paint Léonide and Corine as malicious instead of heroic, and everyone else as hapless victims rather than romantic fools. Not to worry. This brilliant corps of performers handles the script with ease and grace, and never loses sight of the comedy that drives everything. They also approach the work with a contemporary cadence and air of spontaneity that makes it immediately accessible. Altman as Léonide wins everyone over with her immense charm, and her passionate expressions of love are so earnest that they make that emotion palpable. This passion breaks down the essence of Léontine's painful repression, which results in Bassham's master class in slow-burn emotional transformation. It erodes the wall that supports Nacer's ramrod-stiff Hermocrate, leaving in its place both laughs and sympathetic pathos. Her passion gently replaces Agis's innocence, which Kellogg so brilliantly manifested, with enlightenment. And it rallies the support of Kerr's stoic Dimas and Randazzo's delightfully sardonic Harlequin. All this takes place in a gorgeously rendered three-tier country estate garden (designed by Junghyun Georgia Lee), complete with lemon trees, a rhododendron, overhanging tree branches, and grass. There's a backdrop of a cloud-swept sky that subtly changes hues (designed by Christopher Akerlind) to complement the shifting humors of the characters. A soft underscoring of original music (designed by Fan Zhang) does the same. Period French costuming (also designed by Lee), with its classical elegance, offers attractive eye candy. Advertisement Everything about this play and this production is intoxicating. Eighteenth century theater goers sure missed out; modern-day Bostonians should not. THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE Play by Pierre Carlet de Marivaux. Translated/adapted by Stephen Wadsworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. At the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. Through April 6. Tickets: $29-$165. 617-266-0800, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
Boston Globe
27-02-2025
- Boston Globe
A French classic gets a new spin at the Huntington
Director Loretta Greco at rehearsal for "The Triumph of Love." Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Advertisement ''Triumph of Love' is clearly a period piece,' says Greco, who is also the Huntington's artistic director. 'It is 'commedia-informed,' but Marivaux is writing during a time of profound change. Centuries of belief are being questioned and these characters, some of whom are entrenched in severity, are being challenged to loosen up and engage in the painful, messy business of falling in love.' The plot follows Léontine, who has fallen in love with the rightful heir to the throne she has inherited, an exiled prince named Agis, who has been taught to despise her. To win his love, she must disguise herself, enlist the help of two clever and hilarious servants, and woo not only Agis, but his strict and dispassionate aunt and uncle. Greco has been connected to 'Triumph of Love' since 1992, when translator and adaptor Stephen Wadsworth ('The Game of Love and Chance,' which the Huntington staged in 1997) first worked on the script at the McCarter Theatre, where Greco served as staff producer. 'It was a classic no one knew, and yet it was filled with so much truth and beauty,' she says. 'There had been stiff and boring adaptations of Marivaux before, but Stephen, who had experience directing 18th-century operas, poured himself into this play. It's as if a piece of him lives in that era.' Advertisement Wadsworth, responding to questions via email, says 'With Marivaux, all the characters felt luminous, layered, persuasive. It was like meeting fascinating attractive people you know you'll know for the rest of your life.' Wadsworth's gift, says Greco, is his ability to capture the physicality of the comedy (personified by the servant Harlequin), and Marivaux's understanding of what makes people tick. 'There's a beautiful elegance to his language,' she says, 'and it's important that we create that lush, intoxicating beauty in the theater.' It's almost impossible to translate Marivaux literally, says Wadsworth, who is a busy director of operas, in addition to teaching acting and coaching singers at Juilliard. 'The language is slippery in tone, suggestive rather than forthright, and there's a sense that nobody actually says what they mean or even, often, means what they say,' he says. Altman says the heightened language keeps her on her toes, but while Léontine starts out confident that her goal is honorable, even she admits, 'the snare is … less so.' As she navigates the twists and turns her pursuit takes, she has to adapt, learning more about herself than she expected along the way. 'Nothing can prepare her for all the reactions and obstacles,' Altman says. 'She's wily, but she has a huge open heart and reacts in the moment. It's a fun ride, because it balances both levity and depth.' 'There are significant costs to the characters as they wrestle with desire. The ending isn't simple,' says Wadsworth. 'I think we're in a bigger, realer world of hard truths, where hope is ever present, where life can feel like a sitcom one minute, and psychodrama the next.' Advertisement 'It's important for the audience to fall in love with Léontine, along with all these characters,' says Greco. 'She's teaching old dogs new tricks through the power of love.' Marivaux has created a hybrid world, Greco says, that allows Léontine to move between the nobility and the servants, between the heart and reason. 'Style meets truth,' Greco says, 'and the balance and collision of the cerebral with the visceral is so delicious.' TRIUMPH OF LOVE Play by Marivaux. Translated by Stephen Wadsworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. Presented by At the Huntington, at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave. March 7-April 6. Tickets: $29-$165. 52 Songs, 52 Musicals, 52 Weeks Robert Saoud ('Library Lion,' 'The Band's Visit') launched 2025 by committing to singing 52 songs from 52 musicals in 52 weeks on Facebook, with the goal of inspiring donations to the 'It's a challenge,' says Saoud, 'for me and the Theater Community Benevolent Fund.' Over the first eight weeks of 2025, Saoud's songs have included 'Make Believe,' 'My Funny Valentine,' 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy,' and 'S'Wonderful,' to name a few, from such composers as George Gershwin, 'I'm trying to mix it up,' he says, 'balancing ballads with more upbeat songs. But I like including some obscure numbers. I started the year with a song from 'Show Boat,' because it marks the beginning of American musical theater, but I'm doing a Sondheim number and one from 'Wicked' in the coming weeks, so I'm including more contemporary composers, too.' Advertisement Saoud says he's hoping to raise $5,200 for TCBF by year's end with his weekly performances. A Contemporary Folk Tale Playwright, comedian, and activist Melissa Hale Woodman performs in Proceeds support
