A highlight of the evening was the hilarious rapid series of humorous tableaux commencing the second half, to the tune of a hurdy-gurdy (yes, a genuine hurdy-gurdy player onstage! They pick up a blue van in a street documented as being close to the aforementioned Palace of Engineering site.

Lombardi’s self-absorbed pontifications are a source of constant irritation to all those around him. Unlike Truffaldino, he is sometimes depicted as having risen through the ranks of servitude to become an innkeeper or tavern owner, as in The Servant of Two Masters.Arthur rebukes Merlin for his two-day absence and sentences him to learn how to be a proper manservant from George. In 1783 his company moved to a new theatre on the street now known as the Boulevard des Italiens; they merged with the Théâtre Feydeau to form the Opéra-Comique in 1801.

First performed at York Theatre Royal 26 August 2006 by Northern Broadsides, directed by Barrie Rutter. Unbeknownst to anyone, Federigo is really his sister, Beatrice, in disguise, determined to settle her brother's debts and find her love, Florindo, who fled after her brother was killed.

Carlo Goldoni's 18th century comedy about a wily servant who gets the best of his masters by hook and crook is one of the great classic commedia dell'arte scripts of world drama.

Arlechinno was presented at the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre and supported by Friends of Latin American Expression, Brazilian Cultural Arts and Babur Brasserie. Added to the text is a very helpful article on the historic background on the play, with full notes on characterization and suggestions for comic business. The truth, however, is the supposed Federigo is actually Beatrice in disguise, come from Turin to claim the dowry owed by Pantalone to her brother, if he were alive.Cowley switches from his usual stunning Ford Granada to a plain Morris Marina in the car park on Queen Caroline Street under the Hammersmith Flyover. In this eighteenth-century commedia dell'arte Truffaldino hits the'scam of doubling his income by serving two masters without them knowing. A classic Italian comedy that remains blisteringly hilarious and relevant, over two hundred and fifty years after it was written.

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The Servant of Two Masters“ adaptated and performed by Grupo de Teatro do Instituto Superior Técnico (GTIST) in Lisbon, Portugal, as "O Servidor de Dois Amos". Having discovered Beatrice’s true identity, Pantalone tells Lombardi that the marriage between Silvio and Clarice is still possible since Federigo is actually a woman! Truffaldino, the titular ‘Servant of Two Masters’ in Goldoni’s farce, is an offshoot of Arlecchino (or in English, Harlequin). Mind you, I remember cornering in a Marina at anything above 25mph was so bad, it was a wonder the driver didn't end up in the passenger seat! Full marks to Dominic Kinnaird, who also plays a camp waiter, for choreographing such convincing fight scenes, and to John Candor who plays perky period Italian music on his clarinetto.