Bluefield College Theatre will present Carlo Goldoni’s comedy The Servant of Two Masters, Thursday through Sunday, February 8-11.
The performances will begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 8-10, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 11, all inside BC’s Harman Chapel Auditorium. Admission for each performance will be $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. Members of the BC family will be admitted for free.
Written by Goldoni, a Venetian playwright, in 1746, The Servant of Two Masters tells the story of Truffaldino, a bold but somewhat slow-witted servant who makes the foolish mistake of taking a job as servant to two completely different masters. The result is three acts of farcical misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and slapstick humor. Written in the style of the Italian commedia dell’arte, the play features vibrant costumes, authentic period masks, and lots of physical rough-and-tumble comedy.
Leading the cast of the BC Theatre production of The Servant of Two Masters will be theatre student Aaron Sudderth, who will play the role of Truffaldino, the artful servant of two masters. Local theatre enthusiast Ed Fisher will serve as the miserly Pantalone dei Bisognosi. Theatre student Ashley Burton will be Pantalone’s histrionic daughter, Clarice.
BC Theatre’s Jeanna Anderson will play Dr. Lombardy, while the doctor’s hot-headed son, Sylvio, will be played by theatre student Isaac Hodge. The role of Beatrice, the female visitor disguised as a man, will be played by Halea Fowler. Her lover, Florindo Aretusi, will be played by Andrew Viskup.
Other cast members include Carrington Shelton as the long-suffering innkeeper and chef Brighella Cavicchio, and Alec Church, Brian Fisher and Alexandra Stout as the comical servants or zanies. The play is directed by Bluefield College professors Charles M. Reese and Rebecca McCoy-Reese.
“We’ve never done anything like Servant before,” said Reese. “Commedia is such an important contributor to our modern notion of comedy, yet many people today know nothing about it. With its masks, slapstick humor, and fast -paced action, we thought it would be a great addition to our 2017-2018 season. I think audiences are going to have a great time.”
In addition to The Servant of Two Masters, Bluefield College Theatre’s remaining 2017-’18 schedule will include an adaptation by BC theatre major Mary Jones of Dianne Wynn Jones’ popular youth fantasy novel Howl’s Moving Castle (Bluefield College Theatre/Bluefield Youth Theatre), March 15-18, and The Wizard of Oz (Bluefield College Theatre/Bluefield Youth Theatre), April 12-15.
For more information about The Servant of Two Masters or the remaining season, contact Reese by phone at 276-326-4244 or by e-mail at [email protected]