A Servant of Two Masters at New Village Arts in Carlsbad, runs through May 5.
“One who acquires a servant actually acquires a master for himself.” –Talmud Kiddushin 20a
By Eric George Tauber
CARLSBAD, California — I give workshops in Commedia dell’Arte, so I was very eager to see The Servant of Two Masters at New Village Arts Theatre. This modern adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s classic met all of my expectations and then some.
In the days before film, troupes of Commedia dell’Arte performers would travel from town to town putting on shows. This was lowbrow entertainment with lots of physical comedy, gender-bending and bawdy jokes. Because they were playing to the rough-handed working classes, they relished every opportunity to lampoon their betters. So the wealthy and educated were the butt of the jokes while their lowly servants always carried the day. Most of the actors couldn’t read. So there were no scripts. There were lazzi, summations of what needed to happen in the scene. Improvisation and audience interaction kept everyone on their toes. If the crowd liked you, they dropped money into a hat. If they didn’t, they threw tomatoes.
And this brings us to the home of Pantalone Calzone, a wealthy merchant, played with aplomb by Dallas McLaughlin. Clarice (Amara Young) is his lovely, but none-too-bright daughter. She lost her first suitor, Boboli Ravioli, to a duel, but she has found love again in Silvio Pepperoncini (Tony Houck). Silvio is a nice young man, but he might be a little delicate to make her much of a husband.
Samantha Ginn blows in like a storm as Truffaldino Gelato, man-servant to the late Boboli. With a dead master, he’s out of a job and his stomach is talking to him. So he rents out his services to Florindo Alfredo (Skyler Sullivan), the very man who killed Boboli, who is also in love with Boboli’s twin sister, Beatrice (Eliana Payne). Things get really complicated when Boboli returns, somehow not dead from his fatal wound, to reclaim his fiancée, Clarice, or –more importantly- her dowry. And this makes Truffaldino, now the servant of two masters, serving two simultaneous dinners, packing two suitcases and delivering two very important messages –except he can’t read. So a lot of things get mixed up with hilarious results.
Max Macke brings the house down as the wise-cracking Smeraldina. Sashaying gracelessly in drag, he makes a very un-pretty picture as he rattles off one-liners with a voice like Gilbert Gottfried’s. And Sherri Allen is a petite powerhouse as the fall guy, Karen. Wiry and energetic, she does a surprising display of physical comedy and makes a hilarious Joan Rivers.
Forget subtlety and sophistication. Servant of Two Masters is a night of slapstick, corny puns, ribaldry and fart jokes that will keep you on the edges of your seats and leave you howling with laughter.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Banana Sellers, young performers from Monday Night Live!, an acting program for people with neuro-diversity and special needs making their professional theatre debuts. As a population, they’re often underestimated. But they have gifts to offer to those with the loving patience to open them.
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Tauber is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts. He my be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com