Marivaux’s ‘The Triumph of Love’ opens in April at Shotgun Players in Berkeley

What good is love that does not cost?

Shotgun Players announced it will open Pierre de Marivaux’s The Triumph of Love on April 1.

Founding Artistic Director — and director of the production — Patrick Dooley notes this isn’t the first time the provocative comedy has hit the stage in Berkeley, mentioning in the program notes he first saw it at the Berkeley Rep some 30 years ago. He says of Triumph:

At first blush, this play is a romp – an early 18th century romantic comedy swimming in secret identities and fairy tale flourishes. To fall madly, deeply in love is a sweet confection sometimes followed by an unsettling bitterness and the pain of impact. It offers a knotty twist and compelling reconsideration of the Tennyson quote, “‘Tis better to have lost and lost than never to have loved at all.”

The production marks the opening of Shotgun Players’ 2023 season.

BAY AREA STAGE

THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE

Written by Pierre Carlet De Marivaux
Translated by Stephen Wadsworth
Directed by Patrick Dooley

Opens April 1, 2023
Shotgun Players, Berkeley, California

The Triumph of Love follows the fierce and driven princess Leonide (Veronic Renner) as she adopts the dress and prerogatives of a man, invades the retreat of a rationalist philosopher (David Boyll) who hates love, and conspires to win the object of her desire. As the emotional stakes rise, gender confusion abounds in hilarious and dramatic ways.

Played for the first time by the Comèdie Italienne in Paris on March 12, 1732 featuring Harlequin the clown, The Triumph of Love is a “juxtaposition onstage of this unabashed buffoon and men and women in complex, serious situations should provoke wonderment and delight.”

Runtime is 2 hours and 30 minutes including two intermissions.