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Two tales of multiple misunderstanding by the eighteenth-century master of complex, witty comedies.
In the tightly-structured, erotically-charged fable The Triumph of Love, a young princess, conscious that her claim to the throne is less than honourable, disguises herself as a man in order to dupe her enemies and persuade the rightful ruler to return. This faithful and vivid translation by Braham Muray and Katherine Sand was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 2007.
In The Game of Love and Chance, a pair of prospective lovers each swap places with their servants, while their relatives, fully apprised of both deceptions, look on in amusement. Neil Bartlett's adaptation, first performed at the Lyric Hammersmith, finds inventive modern equivalents for Marivaux's ludic theatricality and its roots in the Commedia dell'Arte.
Pierre de Marivaux
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. His most important works are Le Triomphe de l'amour (The Triumph of Love), Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (The Game of Love and Chance) and Les Fausses Confidences (False Admissions). He also published a number of essays and two important but unfinished novels, La Vie de Marianne and Le Paysan parvenu.
More by Pierre de Marivaux
Neil Bartlett
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Neil Bartlett is one of his generation's most respected and innovative theatre directors. His highly individual translations of French and German classical theatre, and charcteristically theatrical adaptations of Dickens, most of them originated while he was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith in London, have been played around the world. His plays have premiered at the Royal Court, at the Manchester International Festival and at the National Theatre in London.
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