Advance Photos: TRIUMPH OF LOVE
Cassandra Szabo and Catherine Fergusson.
Photo Credit: Tim Matheson
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Presented by the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia
THEATRE SERIES | A Modern Musical
Tickets: $11.50 - $24.50
$7 | Preview March 18 | Talkback March 25
Venue: Frederic Wood Theatre
This modern musical adaptation of Marivaux’s 18th century romantic comedy follows Princess Leonide as she literally wears the pants so that her beloved Agis can return to his rightful throne. It’s not her fault if her deceptive dress-up causes the entire household to fall in love with her! With her confidante, Corine, by her side, Leonide must rescue her man before his stuffed-shirt uncle and sourpuss aunt find out who’s really beneath those ever-changing bodices and breaches.
The Cast is comprised of 4th year BFA students Ghazal Azarbad (Hesione), Nathan Cottell (Dimas), Catherine Fergusson (Princess Leonide), Matt Kennedy (Hermocrates), Cassandra Szabo (Corine), Charlotte Wright (Harlequin), and Zach Wolfman (Agis). The Creative Team includes Stage Manager Becky Fitzpatrick and BFA Design students Patrick Smith (Set Design), Patricia Jensen (Costume Design), Andrew Pye (Lighting Design), and Kate De Lorme (Sound Design).
Theatre at UBC's production of Triumph of Love. L-R: Cassandra Szabo, Zach Wolfman and Catherine Fergusson. Photo: Tim Matheson.
Resembling a chamber musical more than a traditional book musical, it is based on the 1732 Pierre de Marivaux commedia dell'arte play Le Triomphe de l'Amour and centers on Spartan princess Léonide, whose love for Agis is complicated by the fact her throne was wrongfully wrested by her family from the object of her affection. Agis has been raised an educated man ruled by reason rather than passion by his uncle Hermocrates and his aunt Hesione. The princess, conspiring with her servant Corine, disguises herself as Phocion in order to infiltrate the guarded "men-only" palace compound occupied by Agis, who is plotting her assassination. Complications ensue when both Agis and Hermocrates separately guess her secret, and she tells the former she's Cécile, on the lam from an undesirable paramour, and to the latter claims to be Aspasie, who wishes to study philosophy with him. Adding to the convoluted plot are Hermocrates' valet Harlequin and gardener Dimas.
The cast included Susan Egan as Léonide, Christopher Sieber as Agis, F. Murray Abraham as Hermocrates, Betty Buckley as Hesione, Nancy Opel as Corine, Roger Bart as Harlequin, and Kevin Chamberlin as Dimas. Comedienne Elayne Boosler had been announced to play Corine but dropped out during rehearsals due to creative differences.
...based on the 1732 Pierre de Marivaux commedia dell'arte play Le Triomphe de l'Amour
Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (February 4, 1688 – February 12, 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist. 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, Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard and Les Fausses Confidences. He also published a number of essays and two important but unfinished novels, La Vie de Marianne and Le Paysan parvenu.
Marivaux is said to have written his first play, the Père prudent et équitable, when he was only eighteen, but it was not published till 1712, when he was twenty-four. However, the young Marivaux concentrated more on writing novels than plays. In the three years from 1713 to 1715 he produced three novels – Effets surprenants de la sympathie; La Voiture embourbée, and a book which had three titles – Pharsamon, Les Folies romanesques, and Le Don Quichotte moderne. These books are very different from his later, more famous pieces: they are inspired by Spanish romances and the heroic novels of the preceding century, with a certain mixture of the marvelous.
Marivaux is reputed to have been a witty conversationalist, with a somewhat contradictory personality
Voltaire became his enemy and often disparaged him
Then Marivaux's literary ardour took a new phase. He parodied Homer to serve the cause of Antoine Houdar de La Motte, (1672–1731) an ingenious paradoxer; Marivaux had already done something similar for François Fénelon, whose Telemachus he parodied and updated as Le Telemaque travesti (written in 1714 but not published until 1736). His friendship with Antoine Houdar de La Motte introduced him to the Mercure, the chief newspaper of France, and he started writing articles for it in 1717. His work was noted for its keen observation and literary skill. His work showed the first signs of "marivaudage," which now signifies the flirtatious bantering tone characteristic of Marivaux's dialogues. In 1742 he became acquainted with the then unknown Jean-Jacques Rousseau helping him revise a play Narcissus though it wasn't produced till long afterwards.
Marivaux is reputed to have been a witty conversationalist, with a somewhat contradictory personality. He was extremely good-natured, but fond of saying very severe things, unhesitating in his acceptance of favours (he drew a regular annuity from Claude Adrien Helvétius), but exceedingly touchy if he thought himself in any way slighted. He was, though a great cultivator of sensibility and unsparingly criticized the rising philosophes. Perhaps for this reason, Voltaire became his enemy and often disparaged him. Marivaux' friends included Helvétius, Claudine Guérin de Tencin, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and even Madame de Pompadour (who allegedly provided him with a pension). Marivaux had one daughter, who became a nun; the duke of Orleans, the regent's successor, furnished her with her dowry.
Barbara Tomasic
MFA Directing candidate Barbara Tomasic is a Vancouver-based director, actor and Co-Artistic Director (Musical TheatreWorks). Barbara’s recent directing credits include the award winning Crazy For You (Gateway Theatre), Little One (UBC), Goblin Market and Back To You (Musical TheatreWorks).
Barbara was last seen on stage in as Anna in The King and I at Gateway Theatre, and her favourite performing credits include, Sound of Music (Maria), Annie (Grace) (Gateway Theatre), and The Last Five Years (Roaring Lion/Firehall Arts Centre).
Barbara’s recent directing credits include the award winning Crazy For You (Gateway Theatre)
James Magruder
James Magruder is an American fiction writer, playwright, and translator who received his doctorate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism from the Yale School of Drama. His dissertation, Three French Comedies (Yale University Press), was named an “Outstanding Literary Translation of the Year” by the American Literary Translators Association.
Today, his versions of Molière, Marivaux, Lesage, Labiche, Gozzi, Dickens, Hofmannsthal, and Giraudoux have been produced across the country. After fifteen years in show business as a playwright and dramaturg, he turned to fiction in 2002.
...his versions of Molière, Marivaux, Lesage, Labiche, Gozzi, Dickens, Hofmannsthal, and Giraudoux have been produced across the country.
Christopher King
Music Director Christopher King is a Vancouver-based theatre director, writer, composer, and actor.
Christopher’s recent Music Direction credits include Crazy for You, The King and I (Gateway Theatre), Shrek: The Musical, How to Succeed in Business (Theatre Under the Stars), and The Buddy Holly Story (Chemainus Theatre).
Christopher’s recent Music Direction credits include Crazy for You, The King and I (Gateway Theatre)...
Cassandra Szabo and Catherine Fergusson.
Photo Credit: Tim Matheson
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Cassandra Szabo as Corine.
Photo Credit: Tim Matheson
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Cassandra Szabo, Zach Wolfman and Catherine Fergusson.
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Catherine Fergusson and Zach Wolfman.
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Catherine Fergusson.
Photo Credit: Tim Matheson
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Zach Wolfman.
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Zach Wolfman.
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Cassandra Szabo and Catherine Fergusson
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Charlotte Wright and Cassandra Szabo
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Charlotte Wright and Zach Wolfman
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Charlotte Wright, Cassandra Szabo, Catherine Fergusson, Nathan Cottell
Photo Credit: Julia Carr.
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Ghazal Azarbad and Catherine Fergusson
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Matt Kennedy and Ghazal Azarbad
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Matt Kennedy and Ghazal Azarbad
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Matt Kennedy, Zach Wolfman and Ghazal Azarbad
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Matt Kennedy, Zach Wolfman, Ghazal Azarbad
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Nathan Cottell and Matt Kennedy
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Zach Wolfman and Catherine Fergusson
Photo Credit: Julia Carr
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
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Designed by Patrick Smith
— The secret to making hedges for our Triumph of Love set? Green tissue paper, chicken wire, good music, and a patient army of theatre students! → view image detail
Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Designed by Patricia Jansen
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Poster designed by Harry Bardal
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Program designed by Harry Bardal
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Written by Amy Lynn Strilchuk
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Agis
Princess
Cor'ine
Hermocrates
Dimas
Hesione
Harlequin
Barbara Tomasic
Director
Christopher King
Musical Director
Patrick Smith
Set Designer
Heipo Leung, Jessica Routliffe, Li Zhou
Assistant Set Designers
Patricia Jansen
Costume Designer
Alix Miller
Assistant Costume Designer
Andrew Pye
Lighting Designer
Megan Lavergne
Assistant Lighting Designer
Kate De Lorme
Sound Designer
Chengyan Boon
Assistant Sound Designer
Becky Fitzpatrick
Stage Manager
Shan Fu,
Kaylin Good,
Ryan Yee
Assistant Stage Managers
Shota Ebi
Light Board Programmer
Chengyan Boon
Head, LIghting
Tory Ip
Head, LIghting
Shota Ebi
Light Board Operator
Lauren Stewart
Sound Board Operator
Lizzy Fu, Jingyi Gu, Chantal Rangeley-Davies, Xing Xu, Linda Yang, Chengyan Boon
Show Run Crew
Aya Yuhara
Costume Run Crew
Jingyi Gu, Megan Lavergne, Nandiivajra Ononbat
Light Crew
Vanka Salim, Suzanna Su
Scenic Paint Crew
Stefan Zubovic, Courtney Verwold
Follow Spot Operators
Jay Henrickson
Production Manager
Jim Fergusson
Technical Director
Keith Smith
Head Carpenter
Lynn Burton
Properties Department
Jodi Jacyk
Head of Wardrobe
Stephen Heatley
Advisor to the Director
Robert Gardiner
Advisor to Set & Lighting Design
Jacqueline Firkins
Advisor to Costume Design
Marijka Asbeek Brusse
Advisor to Stage Management
Andy Horka
Advisor to Sound Design
Robert Gardiner
Acting Department Head
Cam Cronin
Administrator
Amy Lynn Strilchuk
Marketing & Communications
Ian Patton
Academic Administrator
Karen Tong
Theatre and Film Studies Graduate Secretary
Zanna Downes
Theatre and Film Production Graduate Secretary
Tony Koelwyn
Box Office
Harry Bardal
Poster Design, Program Editor
Gene Boado
Custodial Services
Linda Fenton Malloy
Department & Production Website
Purchase tickets securely through universitytickets.com
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Telephone: 604-822-2678
Fax: 604-822-5985
Email: box.office@ubc.ca
Theatre at UBC, University of British Columbia, Room 203, 6354 Crescent Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2