Marivaux's 'The False Servant' - Bart DeLorenzo directs at the Odyssey

LOS ANGELES - June 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Seduction. Money. Power. Cross-dressing.On the surface,The False Servantis a sly 18th century romp in which a young girl dresses as a man to learn more about her husband-to-be. But a world of darker meaning lies beneath the wit and verbal exuberance. In Marivaux’s heartless comedy of bad manners, lust and avarice infringe upon the finer feelings of love.

“Marivaux explores the ambiguities of classic comedy — the nature of love and of attraction — in a very modern way,” says director Bart DeLorenzo. “Martin Crimp gives us a translation that feels fresh and alive, yet still retains the precision of Marivaux’s language.”

“What I find interesting about Marivaux is his perpetual appetite for experiment,” said Crimp in an interview. “He always writes incredibly difficult situations, and then he sets himself and his characters the task of getting out of those situations. It’s almost meta-theatrical in the sense that the  mechanism of the theater is being shown on the surface, but at the same time the human relations are very honest and true underneath.”

Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763), commonly referred to as “Marivaux,” wrote over thirty comedies of love and intrigue. His work was so distinctive that the French coined a word,marivaudage, that signifies the flirtatious, bantering tone characteristic of his dialogue. Now considered to be one of the most important French playwrights of the eighteenth century, his comedies were originally performed in Paris at the Comédie-Italienne and at its rival company across town, the Comédie-Française. In addition to his theatrical work, Marivaux also published a number of essays and left two unfinished novels. Marivaux was elected a member, or “immortel,” of the Académie Française in 1742.

Performances of The False Servant take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., July 11 through Sept. 6. (On Sunday, July 12 only, the performance will be at 5 p.m. with no 2 p.m. matinee.) Additional weeknight performances are scheduled on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on July 29 and Aug. 12, and on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on July 23, Aug. 6 and Aug. 20. Tickets are $34 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and $25 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with $20 tickets available for seniors and $15 tickets for students and members of SAG/AFTRA/AEA. There will be three “Tix for $10” performances on Friday, July 17; Thursday, July 23; and Wednesday, July 29. The third Friday of every month is wine night at the Odyssey: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and mingle with the cast after the show. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 or go to www.OdysseyTheatre.com.