“L’Amour à Passy” by G.W. Reed, a new two-character play, is the story of the platonic affair between Benjamin Franklin and and the flamboyant, beautiful Madame Brillon (Anne-Louise Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy) in 1778 while Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were negotiating one of the great diplomatic triumphs of history: the alliance between France and the nascent United States. Spoiled by her wealthy, elderly husband and livid at having to coexist with his mistress (their children’s governess), Madame Brillon made an open show of her affection for the “good doctor,” flirtatiously calling him “Cher Papa” while perched on his lap and playing chess with him while in her bath. The events of the play invite tantalizing speculation on how Madame Brillon could have insinuated Franklin into the court of France, ultimately leading to the Franco-American alliance. Performed by its author as Franklin and Musa Gurnis as Madame Brillon, directed by Manfred Bormann.

The history in the play, telescoped for dramatic effect, is a beguiling mixture of actual events and “What if…?”. Some events are injected into the play as possibility not fact, including whispers about the Queen’s involvement with the German physician/hypnotist Franz Mesmer (whom Franklin actually investigated in 1780-82) and the Brillon family’s intimacy with the Queen (conjecture on the playwright’s part). What emerges, then, is a charming romantic comedy about Ben Franklin’s struggle to control his sexual desire for a woman half his age.  Dueling at chess while he soaks in her bath (good for his dermatitis), they match wits over love, sex, adultery and the Queen. In a humorous and touching way, Franklin helps Mme. Brillon with her husband’s infidelity. Mme. Brillon’s dialogue, and much of Franklin’s interaction with her, is in a charming jumble of French and English that requires no subtitles to understand.