La surprise de l’amour

August 29, 2024

Categories: Past Shows

La surprise de l’amour

Lovestruck
by Marivaux

directed by Donald McManus

Producer Michael [Michel] Bula

La Surprise de l’amour is a three-act romantic comedy by French playwright Marivaux. Its title is usually translated into English as The Surprise of Love. La Surprise de l’amour was first performed on 3 May 1722 by the Comédie Italienne at the Hotel de Bourgogne in Paris. In this play, a man and a woman who’ve sworn off love are tricked by their servants into falling in love with each other.

Like many of Marivaux’s other comedies, La Surprise de l’amour makes use of stock characters from the Commedia dell’arte. In this play, Arlequin and Columbine are featured.

Théophile Gautier considered this to be Marivaux’s finest work.

Plot summary

After having been betrayed by a woman, Lélio renounces love and retires to the countryside with his valet, Arlequin, whose adventures in love are similar. Arlequin, who loves everything about women, including their faults, struggles with the task of forgetting them. One of Lélio’s servants, Jacqueline, hopes to marry Pierre, a servant at the nearby home of the countess. Lélio refuses to allow the two to marry, as he imposes his own viewpoint on his entire household.

The countess, who herself refuses to love men, comes to intervene. Despite the fact that Lélio and the countess swear not to fall in love, a friend of Lélio predicts that this will come to pass. The countess decides to avoid Lélio, but in doing so, she earns his respect and sets in motion the ideas of her servant Columbine. Through the machinations of Columbine and Arlequin (who in turn fall in love themselves), the countess and Lélio ultimately end up together. The play ends with three happy couples: Lélio and the countess, Arlequin and Columbine, and Pierre and Jacqueline.

French

Après avoir été trahi par des femmes, Lélio et son valet Arlequin se retirent à la campagne, coupant ainsi avec l’autre sexe. Bien qu’emprunts de nostalgie et de désir, ils se défendent de succomber à nouveau aux charmes des femmes. Leurs nouvelles voisines fraichement arrivées de Paris, la Comtesse et sa servante Colombine, sont peu ou prou dans les mêmes dispositions d’esprit envers les hommes.

Mais ceux-ci vont rapidement être amenés à se rencontrer et vont déployer des trésors d’imagination pour se convaincre… qu’ils ne s’aimeront pas. Ainsi s’ouvre un ballet de faux semblants et de manigances, orchestré par Colombine et par le mystérieux Baron.

Qui entrera dans la danse ? Qui en sortira ? Reste-t-on indemne d’un jeu amoureux ?

The Production

The show is the 109th production of Melbourne French Theatre Inc. (MFT) in its 47th year [1977 to 2024] founded by Michael Bula and A. David Gorrie at the University of Melbourne – a record for any French-speaking theatre in the Southern Hemisphere. The show was presented from 6 to 17 August 2024 at La Maison de Maitre, 203-205 Canning Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria 3053.

The cast

La ComtesseVeronique DUCHE
La Comtesse understudyLucie SORS
LélioJulien RASPAIL
Le baronMichel BULA
ArlequinKarim BOURIAH-LOPEZ
ColumbinePaola VILLANUEVA
JacquelineNora CHARIF CHEFCHAOUNI
PierreRichard RYAN
Pierrot/Musicien/MuseArnaud RAMDOO

Listen to the SBS Francais Podcast interview

Melbourne French Theatre présente la surprise de l’amour de Marivaux. Avec nous pour en parler Donald McManus, metteur en scène, Lucie Sors, une des comédiennes et Michel Bula directeur du Melbourne French Theatre.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Nick Orloff

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2024-08-29T15:57:09+10:00

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