In the past, we’ve seen Marivaux’s classic comedy Le jeu de l’amour et du hasard updated from the 1730s to the 1930s. However John Fowles’s translation, originally commissioned by the National Theatre, more subtly moves the action to Regency England. As Fowles himself observed, Marivaux’s heroine has a natural kinship with Jane Austen’s Emma Woodhouse, and Paul Miller’s sparkling production creates a world in which a decorous surface is disrupted by disturbing passion.
Class is central to the play. In order to test a potential suitor, the stiff-necked Silvia swaps places with her maid. What she doesn’t know is that her would-be husband, Richard, has also switched identities with his servant. The comedy, as Silvia finds herself falling for a presumed inferior, rests on the collision between social training and amorous instinct. But, although Marivaux explores the complexities of the situation with Mozartian elegance, he also makes it clear that sadism and sexual power are never far apart. Even when she tumbles to her suitor’s trick, Silvia preserves her own disguise, declaring: “I want to see a fight to the death between common sense and love.”
Dorothea Myer-Bennett is outstanding as Silvia. Initially spitting the word “husband” with scornful derision, she registers perfectly Silvia’s emotional confusion at finding herself lusting after a supposed servant. Claire Lams mischievously conveys her maid’s delight at upstaging her mistress, and though Keir Charles slightly overdoes the male servant’s oafishness, Ashley Zhangazha lends his employer a baffled dignity. Played at a brisk 90 minutes, Marivaux’s marvellous play demonstrates that, in matters of love, there is no gain without pain.
- At the Orange Tree, Richmond, until 13 May. Box office: 020-8940 3633.
