A Servant of Two Masters

“Ye gods, what am I going to do? I’m in a fine mess now!”

Betrothed couple Silvio and Clarice are devastated when Clarice’s former fiancé reappears, apparently back from the dead. There follows a high-spirited comedy in which things – and people – aren’t always what they seem.

Lovers, servants, letters that go astray, mistaken identity, disguises and tricks all conspire to create havoc. And right in the middle of it all is the mischief-making Truffaldino – always hungry, always eager to make more money. Not content to be the servant of just one master, he agrees to work for another as well. But trying to juggle two jobs at the same time – while concealing his divided loyalties – just makes matters worse.

In this eighteenth-century Venetian comedy, Goldoni gives depth of character to the stock archetypes of Italy’s commedia dell’arte tradition

This amateur production appears by arrangement with Nick Hern books

by Carlo Goldoni

translated by Stephen Mulrine