“The servant of two masters” by Antonio Latella at the Bellini Theater

Scene of the show The servant of two masters of Antonio Latella at the Bellini Theater

"The servant of two masters" by Carlo Goldoni rewritten by Antonio Latella, staged at the Bellini Theater in Naples

Antonio Latella it is measured with one of the most famous comedies of Carlo Goldoni, Harlequin servant of two masters, but also with the most widespread version of this work, that of Giorgio Strehler. (Here the review of the show on Napolike)

The servant of two masters, this is the "new" title of Latella's work, has as its central theme the lie, the one that distinguishes the figure of the protagonist, Harlequin, one of the best known masks of the commedia dell'arte, which becomes here Truffaldino, a servant who, between jumps, somersaults and deceits, lies to everyone, even to himself and to the spectators. A character that goes, second Latella, necessarily taken from tradition to transport it in our time, and discover the potential from which to start the theater:

Goldoni is our written theater, our origin ... Harlequin is our Hamlet, one can not but meet him on his theatrical path, at least for me

Scena de The servant of two masters of Antonio Latella at the Bellini Theater

In this show everything is false, pure marketing of feelings and souls. The same Truffaldino is the set of all the lies of the other characters, a man without a mask and full of shadows, identified by Latella like the dead brother of Beatrice and with whom he has an incest. A rewriting of Goldoni restless and ambiguous, which shifts the main focus of the story from Harlequin (which does not appear in the title) to the already contemporary aspects present in it:

Cruelty is the commodification of feelings, which was in Goldoni as it is today. In this comedy, everyone is at the service of something or someone, love is continually contaminated by interests, lies, disguises, something we know well today. 

In short, what remains of the text of Goldoni?

What remains? The void, scratched by the mocking smile of the masks. If we remove the jumps, the ornaments, the mechanical acting made of sound but never of text and subtext, if we remove the masks, what remains? The void, perhaps the horror of our contemporaneity. The horror of the man who, faced with the weight of money, loses weight, becomes anorexic: he is not a body in a costume that allows everything but a skeleton in a body that limits everything.

Information on the show The servant of two masters

When: from the 18 to the 23 February 2014

Price tickets:

Tuesday

  • I place: 20 euro
  • II place: 15 euro
  • III place: 12 euro

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

  • I place: 25 euro; Reduced: 22 euro
  • II place: 20 euro; Reduced: 18 euro
  • III place: 17 euro-, Reduced: 15 euro

Saturday and Sunday

  • I place: 30 euro
  • II place: 25 euro
  • III place: 20 euro

Where: Bellini Theater, via Conte di Ruvo 14, Naples

Follow us on Telegram
Written by Valentina D'Andrea
Let's talk about: ,
They may also like