SYNOPSIS: Comedy dell’arte is set in 16th century Renaissance Italy, in sunny Venice. The year is 1564. The witty servant, Truffaldino, is given the task of delivering a letter from the rich merchant Pantalone to a beautiful, young widow Smeraldine. At the same time, Truffaldino attempts to escape Colombine, a pretty servant who is in love with him. The atmosphere of Venice is completed by the supporting characters: three Venetian signoras, Gina, Bianca and Carla, the Mayor of Venice Don Giovanni and the physician Dottore. Pantalone’s wife, the venerable madame Juliet, is tormented by her husband’s many love affairs. She agrees with a plan proposed by Smeraldine and, together with Truffaldino, they teach Pantalone a lesson. Finally, after a gentle scolding, Pantalone asks Juliet for forgiveness and promises her love. Everyone is invited to a grand feast. And so ends a simple story with a great heart.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 8
CAST: 6 women, 4 men
GENRE: comedy
CHARACTERS:
PANTALONE – rich merchant
JULIET – his wife
TRUFFALDINO – servant
COLOMBINE – servant
SMERALDINE – beautiful widow
DOTTORE – physician
GINA
BIANCA
CARLA – ladies
DON GIOVANNI – the Mayor of Venice
Italy, Venice 1564
SAMPLE TEXT
SCENE 1
COLOMBINE: (Off-stage.) Truffaldino, Truffaldino, where are you?! Come on, leave your hideout, my dearest. Show yourself to me, Truffaldino.
TRUFFALDINO: (Enter Truffaldino, slowly and carefully tip-toeing backward.)
COLOMBINE: (Peeks out.) Truffaldino!
TRUFFALDINO: Darn it!
COLOMBINE: Why are you hiding, Truffaldino, why are you running away from me?
TRUFFALDINO: I’m not hiding and I’m not running away from you, my sweetest.
COLOMBINE: Yes, you are. You want to leave me alone in my despair, Truffaldino. Don’t you love me anymore?
TRUFFALDINO: I do love you but, psssh…I’m undercover now.
COLOMBINE: What? Really?
TRUFFALDINO: Yep, my master has put me in charge of a delicate task. But, unfortunately, I can’t tell you a word, you know, it’s a secret.
COLOMBINE: Tell me, Truffaldino, share your secret with me, I’m so curious, this is so exciting!
TRUFFALDINO: No, I can’t.
COLOMBINE: Please, Truffaldino, please.
TRUFFALDINO: But in exchange, you will let me go. And you won’t follow me.
COLOMBINE: I promise.
TRUFFALDINO: My task is all about… love. My master’s fallen in love with a certain lady. But beware, you mustn’t tell anybody. I have a letter for her. Bye.
(He runs away.)
COLOMBINE: Truffaldino, wait, my love. Truffaldino…
(She runs after him.)
SCENE 2
CARLA: Venice is lovely.
GINA: Venice is beautiful.
BIANCA: Venice is charming.
CARLA: Venice is spectacular.
GINA: Venice is marvelous.
BIANCA: Venice is splendid.
CARLA: Oh, now look at that one over there! No sense of fashion at all!
GINA: Which one?
BIANCA: D’you mean that one, dear Carla?
CARLA: Not that one, dear Bianca, the other one.
GINA: The pink one?
BIANCA: Not the pink, dear Gina, Carla means the green one.
CARLA: Forget the green, dear ladies, I mean, where is she, I can’t see her anymore, she’s disappeared somewhere.
GINA: Never mind, let’s move somewhere else.
BIANCA: Excellent idea.
CARLA: Come on, ladies. (They walk around in a circle and end up in the same spot as before.)
GINA: Venice men are dull.
BIANCA: It depends.
CARLA: It does, indeed, depend. I know one…
GINA: Who?
CARLA: Doesn’t matter.
BIANCA: Tell us, you mustn’t leave us in the dark. (Pause.)
CARLA: Signor Luigi.
GINA: But, dear Carla, signor Luigi is a priest, isn’t he?
BIANCA: But our dear Carla clearly isn’t talking about Luigi the priest. It is his nephew, young and handsome Luigi Jr. whom she has in mind, am I right, Carla?
CARLA: Yes, dear, you are.
GINA: Anything in particular you want to tell us about young signor Luigi Jr.?
CARLA: What? Not a thing.
GINA: I see.
BIANCA: You’re trying to point out, dear Carla, that signor Luigi Jr. is something other than dull, right?
CARLA: That’s what I was trying to say, Bianca. Thank you, you’re a mind reader. An exceptionally clever mind reader, my dear.
BIANCA: My pleasure. (Pause.)
GINA: But unfortunately, he’s so young.
BIANCA: Who?
GINA: Luigi Jr.
BIANCA: Ah, yes.
CARLA: Ladies, look who’s coming our way.
BIANCA: Signor don Giovanni. (Enter don Giovanni.)
GINA: Oh, my dear friend, lord Mayor…
DON GIOVANNI: Oh, what an honour to meet you on my walk, ladies. Enjoying the beautiful day, are we?
CARLA: Oh, yes, a little walk outside can’t do any harm, can it? And yourself, my lord Mayor?
DON GIOVANNI: Oh, a short turn around town to enjoy the fresh air myself. I needed to get out of that stuffy office of mine in the town hall.
GINA: How wonderful.
DON GIOVANNI: Isn’t Venice just breathtaking during this time of the year?
BIANCA: It sure is, my lord Mayor.
DON GIOVANNI: You are the grace of our city, ladies, arrivederci.
CARLA: Good bye, dear lord Mayor. (Exit Don Giovanni.)
GINA: Venice men are boring.
BIANCA: Yes, they are.
CARLA: Hm, it depends. Let’s find another spot, ladies.
GINA: Good idea. (Exit the three ladies.)
SCENE 3
(Enter Pantalone.)
PANTALONE: I am the great Pantalone, merchant. I trade fabrics of all colours and materials of the world. I love what I do, because it is the source of my immense fortune; my beautiful, shiny, gold money. I love my city, too. I’ve lived here for more than twenty years, this is after I moved from Florence, which I liked just as well. I have a wife, but I’m not in love with her anymore, she’s got old and tired. She talks all day and all night. There’s just no stopping her. Pantalone this, Pantalone that, the irritating old hag. And so I like to pay attention to other women. A beautiful, young widow caught my eye recently. Her name is Smeraldine and she’s just exquisite. I’ve sent a servant to give her my letter. He should be back with her answer around now. Where is that boy? Ah, I think that’s him.
TRUFFALDINO: Signor, I’m here, I’ve found you at last.
PANTALONE: Sit down, Truffaldino, my loyal servant, and catch your breath.
TRUFFALDINO: Yes, thank you. I ran all the way.
PANTALONE: And? Did you hand my letter to the honourable Smeraldine as I instructed?
TRUFFALDINO: Letter?
PANTALONE: The letter! I hope you haven’t lost it, you idiotic boy.
TRUFFALDINO: I haven’t, signor.
PANTALONE: So? Where’s the answer? What message do you bring me from honourable Smeraldine?
TRUFFALDINO: I do have a message…
PANTALONE: Indeed!
TRUFFALDINO: She said she’d reply tomorrow. And then she smiled.
PANTALONE: (To himself.) Smiled, smiled… well, if that isn’t a lucky sign for me. It’s a good sign. How can I wait till tomorrow though? – Thank you, Truffaldino, I will raise your daily portion today. – She smiled, she smiled.
(Exit Pantalone.)
TRUFFALDINO: My portion, my portion. Argh, I need silver, gold, money, coins, bank notes, florentines or any currency I can lay my hands on…and all I get is an extra potato on my plate instead. You can stick your portion—
COLOMBINE: (Off-stage.) Truffaldino, where are you, my dearest?
TRUFFALDINO: Not again! Colombine. She’s everywhere. I must disappear.
(Exit Truffaldino, lights off, music.)
SCENE 4
(Enter Juliet.)
JULIET: What a disaster to be married to an old lunatic like my Pantalone. I often say to myself: Juliet, Juliet, where did you leave your brains when you took him for a husband twenty years ago? But I love him anyway, at least sometimes, when he brings money home. His trade is going well, I can’t deny that. People buy expensive fabric. But those people are usually women. And the silly old man chases every one of them even though he’s gray and slow. Stupid old boy. Anyway, I’m going to the market to buy some vegetables: cauliflower, carrots and parsley and I’ll make some nice hot soup.
(Enter Smeraldine.) Good morning, Smeraldine, how are you?
SMERALDINE: I’m fine, thank you. And you, Juliet?
JULIET: I’m fine, thank you for asking. Have you been to the market?
SMERALDINE: Oh yes, that’s where I’m coming from now. How about you?
JULIET: On my way to the very place now. I shall see you soon.
SMERALDINE: Goodbye. (Exit Juliet.) Hm, what a surprise. Madame Juliet, respectable wife of the honourable signor Pantalone. Poor old thing, but that’s life. Is it my fault that I’m so beautiful men can’t resist approaching me all the time? Rarely does a day pass in which I don’t receive at least five letters from my admirers. But I’m going to choose the right one. Young, rich and handsome. I will love no other. I wonder if it’s possible to find such a man in the city of Venice. (Sits down and takes out a letter.) Oh, let’s have a look at what signor Pantalone writes.
(Absorbed in reading, laughs. Pantalone peeks out from the side.)
PANTALONE: Most beloved Smeraldine. My heart is bleeding and longing to know you more. I want to hold your hand and whisper words of love in your ear in the moonlight. Don’t turn me down. I’m wealthier and more prosperous than you can imagine…and more desperate than you suspect. Desperate to be with you. My wife irritates me. She’s old and talks too much. You, and only you, are my true desire. (Exit laughing Smeraldine.) Do not let me down so that I won’t be forced to hurt myself. (Pantalone lies on bench.) My life is worthless without you. I’m even losing my health. I await your reply impatiently. I remain your most loyal servant, Pantalone.
(Enter Dottore.)
DOTTORE: O prima tuti, spagetti. Prima, secunda, tercia, quarta, Ovídius lefindi, ulipispirus, plavalatycus.
PANTALONE: Signor Dottore, what is wrong with me?
DOTTORE: Uno momento. Inhale, exhale, stop. – Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh.
PANTALONE: What is it?
DOTTORE: My, my, a very serious disease.
PANTALONE: Am I going to die?
DOTTORE: Your life is in God’s hands.
PANTALONE: But what is wrong with me?
DOTTORE: It’s your heart.
PANTALONE: Oh dear, my heart?
DOTTORE: Your heart is suffering from an illness called love.
PANTALONE: Love? Is there a cure?
DOTTORE: The art of medicine knows no cure for this condition.
PANTALONE: Oh, oh, what a poor, miserable man I am…
DOTTORE: There is one remedy, signor.
PANTALONE: Tell me! What are you waiting for?
DOTTORE: Get rid of it. Cast off the ill-fated love.
PANTALONE: Never! Never, I’d rather die.
END OF SAMPLE TEXT
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