Available online
Description
This play was written by Goldoni as a vehicle for well-known actor Cesare d'Arbes. The plot concerns the many confusions which follow the arrival of two identical twins in Verona. The intelligent t...win, Tonino, becomes involved in the affairs of his zany brother, Zanetto. Goldoni designed the play to provide a star role for d'Arbes who played both main characters, and the evidence is that the first performance of the play in Venice in 1748 was highly successful. The Venetian Twins is important for students of drama because it marks the real point at which the Cominedia del Arte tradition, with its stock characters wearing masks and improvising dialogue, turned decisively in the direction of scripted plays. Although the play appears stylised to a twentieth century audience, the absence of masks, which Goldoni fervently recommended, marks a movement towards a more naturalistic style of acting. In this production we have tried to retain the comic spirit of the original with its roots in the Commedia del Arte, while showing the 'reforms' which make the play historically important.
This play was written by Goldoni as a vehicle for well-known actor Cesare d'Arbes. The plot concerns the many confusions which follow the arrival of two identical twins in Verona. The intelligent t...win, Tonino, becomes involved in the affairs of his zany brother, Zanetto. Goldoni designed the play to provide a star role for d'Arbes who played both main characters, and the evidence is that the first performance of the play in Venice in 1748 was highly successful. The Venetian Twins is important for students of drama because it marks the real point at which the Cominedia del Arte tradition, with its stock characters wearing masks and improvising dialogue, turned decisively in the direction of scripted plays. Although the play appears stylised to a twentieth century audience, the absence of masks, which Goldoni fervently recommended, marks a movement towards a more naturalistic style of acting. In this production we have tried to retain the comic spirit of the original with its roots in the Commedia del Arte, while showing the 'reforms' which make the play historically important.
| Module code and title: | A307, Drama |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A307; 04 |
| First transmission date: | 03-04-1977 |
| Published: | 1977 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:49:45 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Paul Kafno |
| Contributors: | Amanda Barrie; Jonathan Cecil; Neil Cunningham; Donald Donnelly; John Evittes; Judith Fielding; Milton Johns; Jacqueline Pearce; Chris Sullivan; Kenneth Waller; David Wood |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72205 |
| Production number: | 00525_3285 |
| Videofinder number: | 3294 |
| Available to public: | no |
