Exhuming 'L'Épreuve Villageoise' for a fun evening, with a tried and true story

You have to hand it to Opera Lafayette. At a time when opera companies across the country are seeking innovations and little-known works, it has continued to mine a vein that has given a tremendous payoff. Having started as a specialist in opera of the French baroque period, it has expanded its mandate to encompass works of the 18th and even 19th centuries that were once popular and have since been forgotten, but that have a natural appeal to most curious opera-goers -- and are also fun.