Senior Thesis Theater: The Game of Love and Chance

Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 7:00pm
Patricelli ’92 Theater, 213 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut

Free and open to the public. Tickets required.

Friday, December 6, 2024 at 7:00pm
Patricelli ’92 Theater, 213 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut

Free and open to the public. Tickets required.

Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 7:00pm
Patricelli ’92 Theater, 213 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut

Free and open to the public. Tickets required.

A Senior Thesis Theater production directed by Sophia Flynn ’25.

In the play, Silvia has been engaged against her will to Dorante, a man she's never met. When he is due to visit her for the first time, she convinces her father to let her take her maid Lisette’s place to observe Dorante and decide if she actually wants to marry him. Little does she know, Dorante has the same doubts about this arranged marriage—and the same plan. With Silvia and Dorante playing servants and Lisette and Harlequin stepping into the roles of their masters, hijinks are bound to ensue.

The Game of Love and Chance was written by Pierre de Marivaux in 1730 for an Italian commedia dell’arte troupe, combining their characteristic stock character comedy with his own intellectual French sensibility. The English translation by Stephen Wadsworth beautifully captures the witty, flirtatious banter Marivaux was famous for. Though the play was written almost 300 years ago, the Wesleyan production will use music, movement, and casting against gender to explore what parts of it still resonate with audiences. This Theater Department production is in partial fulfillment for honors in Theater.

The Game of Love and Chance is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Image: Jean François de Troy, The Declaration of Love, ca. 1724, oil on canvas, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York