1. Play Review

The play that I attended was “The Servant of Two Masters” on April 21, 2010, 8pm, at the mainstage in Waller Hall. It was written by Carlo Goldoni and directed by Rick Kemp. There were a total of 11 actors/actresses in the play.

The Lively Arts book states that “The Servant of Two Masters is a comical adventure resplendent with hidden identities, star-crossed lovers, and unmitigated lightheartedness. The story unfolds as Beatrice, posing as her dead brother, attempts to claim money to marry her lover, who also happens to be her brother’s murderer. As confusion grows surrounding the dead brother’s fiancé and new betrothed, the servant, Truffaldino, unknowingly takes on secretly serving two masters- Beatrice in disguise and her lover. Truffaldino’s mix ups only add to the overall confusion and hilarity of this antic-filled comedy classic.”

I loved the play! It was hilarious and easy to follow. The actors were so talented and I loved seeing that almost, if not all, of them were IUP students. Not once did any of them forget their lines, which was amazing to me.

The actors were:

Truffaldino: the main character, the Servant, played by Sean Barrett
Beatrice: posed as her dead brother. Played by Natalie Brown
Florindo: Beatrice’s lover. Played by Abe Hoose
Clarice: Silvio’s lover. Played by Kaitlin LeRoy
Silvio: Clarice’s lover. Played by Chris Anthony
Pantaloon: Clarice’s father. Played by Ryan Hays
Smeraldina: Pantaloon’s servant. Played by Natalie Palamides
Brighella: Innkeeper, played by Stephen Harvey
Doctor Lombardi: Silvio’s father. Played by Henry Fodor
Waiters: Played by Jared Patterson and Frank Perri

Again, their acting was amazing. I was totally amazed at how great they were. I definitely think the actors knew what they were saying and they understood the play inside-out. I think each actor played their character very well. Truffaldino stuck out in my head as “hogging” the play, but that’s because he was the main character, and everything that he said was hilarious.Carlo Goldoni definitely has a nag for writing plays. He uses humor and keeps the interest of the audience. I was not bored at one minute in the play, it kept my attention and I couldn’t wait to see what the second half was about after intermission. He developed characters that were easy to understand and not that we could really relate to, but he made it easy for us to understand their personal stories.The directing for the play was also amazing. I can’t say much bad about this play. The director kept the audience wanting to see what was next and the play also kept moving. It didn’t drag too much in one area. I was never once bored. There really wasn’t much choreography in the play, just moving around the stage.

The lights, sound, makeup, costumes, etc. were appropriate for the play. They were simple and every character pretty much wore the same costume throughout the play, which was appropriate. Also, the sets were beautiful and I loved how it just went from one set to one other one. There were only 3 different sets: one in a house/castle and one in like a “marketplace” type place, and one at the inn. The lighting was appropriate for the certain times of day: when it was night, it was dark, when it was day, it was light. The makeup and costumes weren’t too extraordinary, but they went with the play.I was kind of confused on the masks that some of them wore at first, but then realized that they were used to acknowledge the influence of Commedia on Goldoni’s writing. They were used as a farce and sitcom.

The sound was great. Everyone played their part well and I was surprised at how well the actors’ voices carried. I don’t think any of them had microphones on.When I walked into the mainstage in Waller Hall, I was surprised. I thought the theater was going to be huge, but it was small to medium sized. I liked that, because it couldn’t get too packed and therefore, wouldn’t get too hot and it was comfortable.

The tickets for “The Servant of Two Masters” were $8 for IUP students and I think $15 for the public, which I think is very reasonable.

One thing that I was surprised by was the language used in the play. It had some very vulgar words and rude implications, but it was all part of the play. I would definitely put an age requirement on the play, at least 18 years or older.The audience was small to say the least. I think there might have been 40-50 people there at the very most. The audience was very perceptive; they laughed and were very respectful of the actors.

All in all, the play was AMAZING. I would definitely go see another play put on by A-Theater-By-The-Grove Production. I loved it!