Looking for a rental? These are five of the best towns for renters in North Jersey
ENTERTAINMENT

‘Guardsman’ runs in Madison through July 26

BILL NUTT
CORRESPONDENT

Bonnie J. Monte, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, has been involved in theater long enough to trust her instincts.

Take “The Guardsman” by the Hungarian-born playwright Ferenc Molnar. Typically, this story of jealousy, disguise, and suspected infidelity is staged as a farce. The 1931 film version with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne was also played for laughs.

But Monte had a different view. “I suspected there was a deeper play underneath the farce that was getting lost in translation,” she says. “This was based solely on instinct. It was nothing I could prove, because I don’t read Hungarian.”

Enter Gabor Lukin, a great-grandson of Molnar who lives in Los Angeles. “Out of the blue, I heard from him,” Monte says. “He had just done a literal translation of four of his great-grandfather’s plays, including ‘The Guardsman.’ ”

Lukin’s translation vindicated Monte’s instincts. “I was right,” she says. “It’s witty and has moments of farce. But it’s also brutal. It has moments that are chilling.”

With Lukin’s translation as a blueprint, Monte has written a new adaptation of “The Guardsman,” which is having its world premiere at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey through July 26.

The basic story remains the same, centering on a husband-and-wife acting team, identified only as “the Actor” and “the Actress.” He suspects her of being unfaithful, and to trip her up, he disguises himself as a guardsman to seduce her.

From Lukin, Monte learned that Molnar was unhappy with the way “The Guardsman” was treated as a farce. “But he didn’t complain, because it was making a lot of money,” she says.

A dark undercurrent is reflected in Monte’s adaptation. “This play deals with identity and with lack of identity,” she says. “It’s about the addition to drama. It’s about the difference between lying and acting. It’s about losing one’s sense of self.”

Monte points to the genre known as “comedy of agony,” in which painful events become the subject of comedy. “I see ‘The Guardsman’ in that tradition,” she says.

She also sees the play as a precursor to the works of Luigi Pirandello, Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco, and Jean-Paul Sartre. “It was so far ahead of its time,” she says.

Monte adds that Pinter said that “The Guardsman” directly inspired his one-act play, “The Lover.” Not coincidentally, the Shakespeare Theatre is holding a reading of “The Lover” on July 20 as part of its “Lend Us Your Ears” series.

“The Guardsman” is also inspiring to actors, according to Victoria Mack, who plays the Actress. She notes that she once turned down the chance to understudy a different adaptation of the same play because she disliked the script.

“But I love what Bonnie has done with the play,” Mack says. "It feels more real. It’s very funny, but it’s dark. It’s possible that audiences may just laugh at it, or they’ll be amazed at how twisted this people are.”

Mack says she is grateful to play opposite Jon Barker as the Actor. “We’ve worked together, and we’re friends,” she says. “It’s nice to have a co-star you can trust.”

“A role like this is tough, because playing hatred is just as intimate as playing love,” Mack adds. “Playing with Jon makes it easy.”

Monte says that she has the approval of one other person whose opinion she values: Gabor Lukin. “He’s thrilled with the script,” she says. “He feels we captured what his great-grandfather set out to do.”

“It’s scary doing a world premiere of a difficult play,” Monte says. “But I have a gifted cast that can pull it off.”

THE GUARDSMAN

WHAT: Hungarian-born playwright Ferenc Molnar’s comedy centers on a jealous husband who suspects his wife of being unfaithful and disguises himself as a guardsman to woo her. This new adaptation by director Bonnie J. Monte (based on a translation by Molnar’s great-grandson, Gabor Lukin) reveals new depths beneath the farcical surface.

WHEN: Now through July 26

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Sundays: July 12 at 2 p.m.; July 19 and 26 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Tuesdays: July 14 and 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays: July 15 and 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays: July 16 and 23 at 8 p.m.

Fridays: July 10, 17 and 24 at 8 p.m.

Saturdays: July 11 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; July 18 and 25 at 2 and 8 p.m.

WHERE: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave., Madison

TICKETS: $15 to $70. Student rush tickets available half-hour before performance.

THE LOVER

WHAT: A staged reading of the one-act play by Harold Pinter, the late British playwright, who was inspired by “The Guardsman.” The reading is part of the theater’s “Lend Us Your Ears” series. (Adult content.)

WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday, July 20

WHERE: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave., Madison

TICKETS: $18, $10 for students

INFORMATION: 973-408-5600 or www.ShakespeareNJ.org