FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 16, 2004
Contact: Christa Skiles
Public Relations Director
513-345-2242, ext. 232

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE/OHIO UNIVERSITY M.F.A. ACTING COMPANY
PRESENTS CLASSIC COMEDY OF ROMANCE AND SEDUCTION
THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE, JUNE 3-JUNE 12

(CINCINNATI) – The members of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's Ohio University/M.F.A. Acting Company will complete their season at the Playhouse with a classic comedy of seduction and mistaken identity in The Triumph of Love. The play will be performed in the Playhouse's Marx Rehearsal Hall beginning June 3 and continuing through June 12.

In The Triumph of Love, Princess Léonide is positively smitten with the handsome Prince Agis, despite the fact that he is little more than a stranger she has admired from afar. Unfortunately, he is also her family’s greatest enemy, the legitimate heir to the throne Léonide’s uncle usurped from Agis’ father, the former king.

To complicate matters further, Agis has been raised for the past 12 years in the sequestered home of the philosopher Hermocrate and his sister Léontine, both of whom have devoted their lives to promoting reason over the power of emotion, especially love. They have taught Agis to loathe the Princess and even to muster an army against her.

To get close to Agis and win his heart before he learns her true identity, Léonide believes she must gain permission from Hermocrate to stay with them. But he traditionally has refused to allow women to do so. As a result, Léonide disguises herself as a man and goes about the process of seeking admission to his home by flattering and wooing each person there — Hermocrate, Léontine and Agis — alternating between male and female personalities according to the situation and to what each discovers about her scheme.

The result is a merry satire of romance. The play attempts to prove once and for all that love always triumphs over reason.

The Triumph of Love, which first was presented in 1732, was written by 18th century playwright Piérre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux. Considered the most influential French playwright of his time, he wrote 30 plays for the Theatre Francais and Theatre Italien in addition to running a magazine of essays on popular topics.

In recent years, modern audiences seem to have rediscovered Marivaux. The Triumph of Love inspired a 1997 Broadway musical adaptation, which featured Betty Buckley, Susan Egan and F. Murray Abraham, as well as a 2002 film version starring Mira Sorvino and Ben Kingsley.

Ron Wilson, head of the theatre program at Case Western Reserve University, will direct. The show features the final performances of the six members of this year’s Playhouse M.F.A. Acting Company: Jodie Beerman, John Hashop, Marie Howey, Keven Kaddi, Mike Mihm and Iriemimen Oniha. They have spent the school year interning at the Playhouse. They’ve appeared onstage in A Christmas Carol and Mister Roberts; understudied roles and mastered crew assignments for additional productions; and toured with the Playhouse’s educational outreach program in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Tempest and Life in the Fat Lane.

The Triumph of Love will be staged in the Playhouse's Marx Rehearsal Hall with performances scheduled nightly Thursday through Sunday during the first week of the run and Wednesday through Saturday during the second week.

Tickets to The Triumph of Love are on sale now and are just $10 for adults and $6 for students. For tickets or for more information, call the Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 or toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility. For single tickets purchased by telephone through the Playhouse box office, there is a $2 convenience fee per call. Tickets also can be purchased on the Playhouse web site at www.cincyplay.com.

Artists fly to and from Cincinnati on Delta Connection COMAIR, the Playhouse’s official airline.

The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to the Fine Arts Fund.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

The Playhouse also receives funding from the City of Cincinnati.

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