Reviews 2002
Reviews 2002
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by Pierre de Marivaux, translated and directed by John Van Burek
Pleiades Theatre, Artword Theatre, Toronto
May 7-26, 2002
"A Starry Marivaux"
Pleiades Theatre’s enlightening Marivaux series continues this year with “Counterfeit Secrets” (“Les Fausses Confidences”) from 1737. As with Pleiades’ past two Marivaux productions, John Van Burek is the translator and director. There are deficiencies in both acting and direction that prevent the play from being as clear as it should be. But these should not prevent anyone interested from experiencing what is often considered the greatest play of this master of psychological comedy.
As usual Marivaux uses a complex plot to create an conflict within his characters of what is known versus what is felt, head versus heart. In “Secrets” Dubois, a servant in the household of the wealthy widow Araminte, has thought of a scheme to help his penniless friend Dorante win the hand of Araminte, whom he has long loved from afar. Dorante will not have to be far off long, for Dubois has arranged for him to become Araminte’s steward. In addition to the difference in their wealth and social status, many circumstances bar Dorante’s way. His uncle Monsieur Rémy engages him to Araminte’s maid Marton. Araminte’s domineering mother Madame Argante hopes to persuade her daughter to marry the wealthy Monsieur le Conte and takes an instant dislike to Dorante. And Dorante’s own sense of propriety prevents him from confessing his love for Araminte for fear of ridicule and offense. But Dubois is a master of psychological manipulation and like the playwright himself knows exactly when to add new pieces of information to affect the interplay of tensions in the household to achieve his end.
In “The Game of Love and Chance” seen here in 2000 and in “The Triumph of Love” in 2001, the schemers are also the main characters of the play and find themselves ever more firmly caught in the web they spin. In “Secrets” the relationship of the central characters is manipulated by someone outside it, making the play itself into a metaphor for the theatre and throwing into relief the question of how to judge truth or falseness in a world of artifice.
Van Burek’s translation is bright and clear, giving Dubois the most modern colloquial language for comic effect. The one flaw is his use of “intendant” for Dorante’s position in Araminte’s household. Yes, it’s the word Marivaux uses in French, but it does not have the same meaning in English and it sounds too much like “intended”. Much of the play revolves around whether Dorante who is Araminte’s “intendant” is also her “intended”. Much better to avoid such confusion and use the word “major-domo” or the period word “steward” which is Malvolio’s title in “Twelfth Night” and Antonio’s in “The Duchess of Malfi”.
Since Marivaux is so concerned with subtle changes of mind, reason versus emotion, a director of “Secrets” has to decided when Araminte falls in love with Dorante and when she knows it. Van Burek’s solution is to have both moments coincide with Araminte’s declaration of love at the very end of the play. In doing this he misses out on much of the play’s humour that should come from Araminte’s growing difficulty in understanding the attraction she feels. As in the previous two Marivaux,
Andjelija Djuric is the set and costume designer. In “Secrets” Djuric’s very modern rectilinear set in grey, black and red represents a kind of puzzle, the pieces only fitting together at the very end. Up until then, Van Burek directs the cast to move these pieces about not just to changes scenes but also in the middle of them and so frequently that the practice is distracting.
Djuric’s again provides very modern interpretation of 18th-century clothing, giving the women dresses of several semitransparent layers to suggest the various layers they present to others. Marivaux’s men have layers too, but Djuric doesn’t reflect this in their more traditional garb. Paul Mathiesen is always apposite and effective, but Justin Haynes’s music, which in past shows has played with 18th-century forms, here sounds mostly like static mixed with feedback.
The weak link in the previous two Marivaux has been the casting of the lead female role. This is true again in “Secrets”. Beirut-born Arsinée Khanjian as Araminte is best know to Toronto audiences for appearing in 13 of husband Atom Egoyan’s films. English is her fourth language and it is remarkable she is so fluent she can act in it. Her accent is unusual but charming; the real difficulty is unclear diction. Though “Secrets” is in prose we must know every words in Marivaux to judge a character’s state of mind. One can tell that Khanjian’s main medium is film since she acts primarily from the neck up. Her limited range of inflection, movement and gestures inhibit communicating the nuances of Araminte’s suffering and dawning awareness.
Fortunately, Khanjian is surrounded by an excellent cast. Andrew Pifko as Dorante is sure to have many more leading roles come his way. He knows exactly how to make clear the finely gradated series of conflicting emotions that Marivaux demands. Xuan Fraser is an inspired choice as Dubois, the servant who is the master puppeteer behind the scenes. His classical training shows in his expert timing and delivery of his frequent deadpan asides with such aplomb. Julie LeGal as Marton is also a constant pleasure. Like Pifko, LeGal has mastered all the emotional subtleties Marivaux asks of her. She gives us a woman so sensitive and vivacious we are torn as to whether Dorante should pursue her or Araminte.
Dawn Greenhalgh makes Madame Argante into a kind of French precursor to Wilde’s Lady Bracknall. Her characterful voice makes her every word a weapon to protect her preeminence in the household. William Webster is hilarious as Monsieur Rémy the materialistic lawyer (if that’s not redundant). He makes Rémy’s blithely narrow view that people are motivated only by money into the play’s most surefire source of humour. Peter James Haworth could stand to make Monsieur le Conte a bit less bland and more pompous. Thomas Hauff’s performance as Harlequin needs to be tighter. Spencer Haworth as the Jeweller’s Boy shows amazing assurance in one so young.
Until the Stratford Festival or Soulpepper catch on to Marivaux, Pleiades Theatre has the field all to itself. The production has sufficient strength, despite its flaws, to convince you that “Counterfeit Secrets” is a masterpiece and to make you hope Pleiades bring us more Marivaux in the future.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.
Photo: Xuan Fraser and Andrew Pifko. ©2002 Pleiades Theatre.
2002-05-13
Counterfeit Secrets