REVOLUTION OF THE STAGE 1700–1850

Carlo Goldoni – Reform of Italian comedy

Carlo Goldoni stands in the wings of the Teatro San Luca on a crisp Venetian evening, the year 1753. Beyond the velvet curtain, lantern light dances on the ornate Baroque balconies where Venice’s mingled crowd of nobles and common citizens sit eagerly. On stage, the actors perform Goldoni’s newest comedy La Locandiera with a vivacity that electrifies the house. Laughter ripples through the audience at the clever barbs of Mirandolina, the innkeeper heroine – a character drawn not from ancient fable or stock masks, but from the living, breathing world of everyday people. Goldoni watches intently, his heart pounding. He has dared to do what once seemed unthinkable: he has stripped the familiar leather mask off Harlequin’s face and let a real human being emerge. No ...