`THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS' FILLS AUDIENCE WITH FOOD, LAUGHTER.Byline: Julio Martinez Special to the Daily News Commedia dell'arte, the street theater of Renaissance Italy, featured a few stock villains, heroes, scamps, fools and damsels in distress, but was totally dependent on the actors' well-honed improvisational talents and their ability to interact with the usually raucous peasant audience. Carlo Goldoni (1707-93) elevated the street humor of traditional commedia dell'arte to the drawing room sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. of revered 17th-century French dramatist Moliere, but director Beth Milles has gone back into the streets in this irreverent, highly entertaining rendering of Goldoni's classic, ``The Servant of Two Masters A Servant to Two Masters (Arlecchino servitore di due padroni) is a comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1753. This play begins with the character Beatrice, who has traveled to Venice disguised as her dead brother in search of the man who .'' Pushing the commedia slap-shtick to the extreme, Milles' talented ensemble certainly know where the laughs are in this tale of ever-scheming opportunist, Truffaldino (Daniel Passer) and his efforts to extract food, lodging and pay from two separate masters at the same time. Tony Award-winning set designer Richard Hoover (``Not About Nightingales'') has created a wide, piazza-like setting in the outdoor parking lot area of Santa Monica's art complex, Bergamot Station. Milles - who staged the Broadway production of Julia Sweeney's ``God Said `Ha!' '' - makes excellent use of the space, allowing her troupe to race with controlled frenzy through Goldoni's complex plot while always making sure the audience is clued in on the shenanigans shenanigans Noun, pl Informal 1. mischief or nonsense 2. trickery or deception [origin unknown] . Set in Venice, the action hinges on the efforts of merchant Pantalone Pantalone (French: Pantaloon) is a stock character that is classified as one of the vecchi (old men) in Commedia dell'arte. He is a miserly and often libidinous character who is portrayed as a Venetian and often speaks in the Venetian dialect. (Hamilton Camp) to marry off his daughter, Clarice (Lisa Akey). When her original betrothed, Federigo of Turin, is reported killed in a duel, Clarice happily turns her passionate attentions on childhood love Silvio (Dean Robinson), much to the approval of Pantalone and Silvio's father, the scholorly Dr. Lombardi (Jeff Michalski). On the night of the betrothal announcement, who should arrive but Beatrice (Alison Tatlock), disguised as her deceased twin brother, Federigo. Complicating matters to the extreme is the new arrival's man servant, Truffaldino, whose good-natured greed and ravenous appetite serve to thwart everyone's intentions, including those of his second master, Beatrice's love, Florindo (Alastair Duncan), who has followed his lady from Turin. Passer's Truffaldino orchestrates the action about him with an appealing mixture of self-serving ignorance and comically inept connivance The furtive consent of one person to cooperate with another in the commission of an unlawful act or crime—such as an employer's agreement not to withhold taxes from the salary of an employee who wants to evade federal Income Tax. . He is at his best when attempting to scheme his way out of a lie when he has been found out. Passer's desire to incorporate the audience into Truffaldino's schemes doesn't always service the plot, however. One bit with chewed bread is extended way beyond its comical relevance to the piece. The supporting cast is superb. Tatlock and Duncan are perfect as the haughty but clueless clue·less adj. Lacking understanding or knowledge. clueless Adjective Slang helpless or stupid Adj. 1. foils who cannot begin to keep up with Tuffaldino's double dealings. Second City alumni Camp and Michalski, respectively, offer hilarious, dead-on portrayals of two commedia stock characters, the pugnaciously pug·na·cious adj. Combative in nature; belligerent. See Synonyms at belligerent. [From Latin pugn miserly mi·ser·ly adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a miser; avaricious or penurious. mi  ser·li·ness n.Adj. 1. merchant and the over-educated pedant. Akey presents a marvelous, catlike cat·like adj. Resembling a cat, especially in being quiet or stealthy. presence as the hot-to-trot merchant's daughter, Clarice, who, despite her raging hormones, is not about to be married off to someone she doesn't love. Also lending solid support are Regan Forman as Clarice's liberated maid, Smeraldina, and Douglas Weston as the temperamental, knife-wielding innkeeper An individual who, as a regular business, provides accommodations for guests in exchange for reasonable compensation. An inn is defined as a place where lodgings are made available to the public for a charge, such as a hotel, motel, hostel, or guest house. , Brighella. An an evening devoted to appetites, audience members are encouraged to sate themselves with bowls of delicious soup (minestrone or black bean black bean see castanospermum australe, erythrophleumchlorostachys. ), fresh bread, cordials, coffee and a truffle-like dessert that are served both before the show and during intermission. This is one evening of theater that is certainly worth the price of admission. The facts What: ``The Servant of Two Masters.'' Where: Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. When: Through Dec. 19. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Tickets: $28; $18 students, seniors, theater union members. Call (310) 289-2999. Our rating: Three stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The ensemble cast in ``The Servant of Two Masters'' revives commedia dell'arte in an outdoor setting at Bergamot Station. |
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