Theatre Review: Triumph of Love

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_{Damien Rodriguez by Kamile Kuntz Photography}

By Maddie Webb

Over Valentine’s Day weekend the Rutgers-Camden stage hosted an absolute triumph of a show. The Triumph of Love, a three act play written by Pierre de Marivaux and directed here on campus by Professor Damon Bonetti. Starring Taylor Eccles, Andy Amezquita, Damien Rodriguez, Nayeli DeJesus, Ethan Santi, Jessica Osias, and Ryan Pletcher, the seven character play was a fantastic display of the theater department’s talents.

The play follows Princess Leonide (played by Taylor Eccles) as she disguises herself as a man to get past her enemy, Hermocrates (Ryan Pletcher), and sneaks into his home just to find out that the man she has fallen in love with from afar, Agis (Andy Amezquita), is Hermocrates’ student and the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Sparta. As she weasels her way into the home, she seems to seduce more people than just Agis and kicks an elaborate plot to restore his power into motion.

The director of the play, Rutgers University–Camden faculty member Damon Bonetti, gave some insight into the show and his creative vision. When asked about his inspiration to produce this niche play at Rutgers–Camden, he explained that his love of the show and Marivaux’s other works began when he saw The Game of Love and Chance in 1997 in Boston, MA., saying, “It was one of the most beautiful, funny, heartbreaking shows I’ve ever seen. I became an instant Marivaux fan.” Since then, Bonetti has put on Marivaux’s Changes of Heart as well as The Triumph of Love at his theater company, The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective. He says that he believed that this play would be a great choice for the season and adds, “This is one of those projects where you’re lucky enough to have a vision for it, and that vision comes to fruition.”

The show didn’t come without challenges, despite his eagerness and enthusiasm for the play. The classic yet quick and witty nature of the show meant that this didn’t come naturally to the cast Bonetti explained, although he adds that “they were totally up to the challenge.” Written in the 1730s and set in Ancient Greece, a 1930s twist was put on the show for Rutgers–Camden’s stage. This encouraged the slapstick, screwball comedy that Bonetti felt fit so well with Marivaux’s style and created a completely unique production.

Shows like The Triumph of Love and other great plays and musicals are always being produced on campus at Rutgers University–Camden. Professor Bonetti says that the best way to get involved onstage in the shows is to “keep your eyes peeled at the very beginning of each semester, as that is usually when auditions are happening!”

Coming up: Urinetown: The Musical is coming to Rutgers–Camden this Spring! Directed by faculty member Shamus, this musical is a dystopian political comedy where a twenty year drought has made the government ban public toilets and replace them with public, pay-to-use toilets and people who don’t follow the law are sent to Urinetown. The production will be taking place in the Walter K. Gordon Theater at Rutgers University–Camden from April 11th-14th and 18th-21st.