Your Arlington, your views

The following review was submitted by Stephanie Downing:

Over the last half decade I’ve seen many plays performed by high school students and each time I am thoroughly amazed. The Triumph of Love by Marivaux proved to be no exception; the vivid costumes, versatile set, and excellent acting all culminate to make this play a triumph.

The “Triumph of Love” ran in rep along side Moliere’s “Scapin” from November 5th through the 8th at Arlington High School. “Triumph” is the story of the love struck princess, Leonide, who connives her way into spending time with her true love, Agis. Along the way she masquerades as a boy, seducing Leotine, one of Agis’s guardians, and then reveals to her secret to make Leotine’s brother, Agis’s other guardian, fall in love with her. While both these schemes are going on, Leonide also reveals her true gender to Agis, under a false name because he hates Princess Leodine. The witty servants assist her, while falling in love at the same time. Lost yet? Yet the audience need not despair.

Although director Michael Byrne kept the dialogue quick and the action continually moving, the intricacies of the plot were easy to follow. The brightly colored costumes in vibrate oranges, maroons, greens, and blues visually link the characters. Agis, Leotine, and Hermocrate were all dressed in cool colors, showing their relation as a sort of family; Leonide and her servant Corine both wear bold warm colors, setting them apart from the household. Leonide and Agis wore orange and blue, respectively, to show their initial distance, because of Agis’s predisposed hatred towards Princess Leonide. The two conniving servants, Corine and Harlequin, both wore maroon and gold; the other servant, Dimas, was distinctively set apart in dull earth tones.

The set was remarkably simple. Two symmetrical “houses,” with a window and door each, are connected by a black and white checkerboard pattern rake and two chairs move about but remain on stage the entire show. Although the stationary set was the same for Scapin, which I had just seen, I fully believed that this was a different world, with different characters and a different story. The stage picture was clean and uncluttered, relying on the actors to animate the story.

And they certainly rose to the challenge. Lilia Rubin, playing Leonide, explored a full range of vocal choices, giving each of Leonide’s disguises a distinctive personality. Ryan Baker’s character of Harlequin provided many of the plays comic moments with his lively actions and gestures. Corine, played by Laura Gillian, skillfully supported Leonide and Harlequin with a delightful mix of varying voices and energetic gestures. Rosalie Sard and James Wallace, playing Leotine and Hermocrate respectively, did a wonderful job portraying prim characters that were slowly being overcome by love. Sean Davenport did an admirable job showing Agis’s naivety and innocence without making him seem unintelligent and Sam Atlas’s performance as the stern disagreeable Dimas supplied another enjoyable comedic layer.

All of these elements combined to make the “Triumph of Love” a glorious success. I would like to express my thanks to Mr. Bryne, for directing another wonderful show and allowing the senior class to see the play during school, to the actors, for bringing the story to life so convincingly, and to the stage and set crew, for their behind the scenes work. Congratulations on an excellent show!

Stephanie Downing