Outside Chance

The Game of Love and Chance

by Mark Cofta

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Jul 25, 2007

Outdoor summer theater hasn't caught on in our area, but Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company might change that. Their touring production of The Game of Love and Chance plays in nine area parks (weather permitting) and, judging from last Saturday evening's show in Chestnut Hill's Pastorius Park, will succeed in all of them. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, a picnic dinner, and a little bug spray, and Pierre Marivaux's 1830 comedy is an ideal evening under the stars.

Stephen Wadsworth's contemporary-sounding translation, set in the roaring '20s by director Aaron Cromie — and premiered at McCarter Theatre in 1997 — is more audience-friendly than great theater outdoorsman Shakespeare. The deliciously sly story begins with an arranged marriage: Orgon (John Morrison) promised daughter Sylvia (Charlotte Northeast) to Dorante (Bryan Dawidowicz), an aristocrat she has never met. Sylvia and maid Lisette (Kristen Schier) trade places to secretly assess the groom — but unbeknownst to them, Dorante and servant Harlequin (David Strattan White) hatch the same scheme.

Both couples, masters and servants, predictably fall in love, but with much trepidation: Each thinks they're falling in love with the wrong person, not only because of the betrothal, but due to strict class differences. Particularly thorny is Dorante's dilemma: Will he risk scandal by elevating a servant (Sylvia, actually) to the aristocracy, or impose a demeaning "gentleman's arrangement" on his true love? Sylvia maintains her disguise even after Dorante reveals himself, testing his devotion with aid from mischievous brother Mario (Tim Gross), who pretends to be Dorante's rival.

Cromie's unmiked production at first seems stuck in opera staging — static poses, faces out, voices loud — but inspired mayhem erupts with Harlequin's entrance. White's every utterance is comically choreographed, and he tosses his bowler hat with clownish skill, leading the way for hilarious acrobatics. The cast's vivid performances make every moment clear, and the 100-minute play zips by prettily.

William Pollock provides the bright period costumes as well as a handsomely minimalist set that nestled nicely beneath Pastorius Park's towering trees. The play's great for the great outdoors, which makes Commonwealth's choice for 2008, The Taming of the Shrew, a bit disappointing: Another Marivaux comedy (or Moliere, perhaps) might chip away at the notion that only Shakespeare plays outside.

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)

The Game of Love and Chance

Through Aug. 4
Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, various locations, 610-202-7878, www.commonwealthclassictheatre.org

 

Things That Matter To People Who Matter
Under the Spandex
In the Cards
Mate to Order
Invisible/Invincible
Romeo and Juliet
Stephen L. Carter