NEW YORK—Light enough to blow away yet filled with a plot so wonderfully convoluted that I dare you to keep up with it, David Ives’s “The Metromaniacs” contains numerous cases of mistaken identity (I stopped counting at seven), false assumptions, and important lessons about life in general. Ives’s “translaptation” (his word), presented by Red Bull Theater, of Alexis Piron’s 1738 work “La Métromanie” is, for the most part, quite a delight.
In Paris in 1738, Francalou (Adam LeFevre), a would-be writer whose verses are commonly derided, is about to stage his latest play. He’s turned his living room into a forest, complete with trees and glades, for the occasion. Among the invitees are 100 potential suitors for his beautiful daughter Lucille (Amelia Pedlow). Somewhat an airhead, Lucille is in love with all words poetical, with little time for anything else.
