Servant of Two Masters
by Carlo Goldoni
Translated by Bob Alleman & Matt Sekerke
February 16-March 10, 2007
Directed by Noel Schively

Running Time: 1 hr, 52 mins

A 300 year old classic of Commedia del Arte theater, with a fresh new translation by local dramatists Bob Alleman & Matt Sekerke.  The genre that gave rise to Charlie Chaplin, Lucille Ball, and the Marx brothers.  Can Truffaldino, the eponymous servant, stretch himself and the truth to serve two masters, or will it all threaten to fall apart?

Florindo flees Turin for killing Federigo Rasponi - the brother of his lover Beatrice - in a duel, and finds himself in Venice. Beatrice flies Turin disguised as Federigo to find Florindo, and also finds herself in Venice with a servant named Truffaldino. Florindo meets Truffaldino, who hires himself out to Florindo, too – figuring he can serve two masters as easily as he can serve one. (Confused yet?) But Beatrice stumbles into the marriage of Silvio and Clarice – who was engaged to her brother Federigo. Clarice’s father Pantalone decides to honor the original marriage contract he had with Federigo. Silvio’s father Doctor Lombardi becomes enraged. Truffaldino confuses everything. Will Florinido find Beatrice? Will Beatrice marry Clarice? Will Silvio kill Pantalone? Will Truffaldino get dinner?

Reviews

• Baltimore Examiner
• Broadway World
• CityPaper

Cast

Design Staff

Resources

Commedia dell'arte                                             

• TheatreHistory - brief description on Commedia

• Wikipedia - general article on the art form

• Commedia-del-arte - an entire website on Italian improvisational theater

Golden Age of Cartoons                                     

• The Golden Age of Animation - Wikipedia article on 1930s animation

• Animation - MSN Encarta article

• Classic cartoons - an archive of 1930s cartoons (?)

Carlo Goldoni                                                     

• Theatre Database - brief note on Goldoni

• Wikipedia - biography on the playwright

• Answers.com - a variety of data pulls on Goldoni

• Servant of Two Masters - Wikipedia stub on the play

Material

As a special treat, take a gander at some of our set design specs, made by our incredible set designer, Lisa Maydwell, and shipped from Illinois. The task of realizing this sketches and specs was left to CJ Bowles and Carlos Guillen, who did a masterful job of building Lisa's ideas.

• Floor overview - overall, artistic bird's eye view of set

• Layout - Positioning of flats, with measurement

• Hotel and door - Hotel and Kitchen door flat detail

• Pant's house - detail of the Pantalone flat and bridge facing

• Background flat - detail of the background flat of Venice

Pictures

Beatrice (Melissa Hickle) and Florindo (Chris Hickle) share a tender reunion as their servant, Truffaldino (Ashly Fishell) looks on - in Mobtown's Servant of Two Masters.  (Photo by Will Kirk)	Beatrice (Melissa Hickle) has had it up to here with her servant, Truffaldino (Ashly Fishell) - in Mobtown's Servant of Two Masters. (Photo by Will Kirk)	Truffaldino (Ashly Fishell) looks on as Beatrice (Melissa Hickle) and Florindo (Chris Hickle) share a tender reunion - in Mobtown's Servant of Two Masters.  (Photo by Will Kirk)
	Clarice (Sarah Curnoles) is about to blow, as the rest of the cast struggle for her - in Mobtown's Servant of Two Masters. (Photo by Will Kirk)

 

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