Lelio receives a lesson from a man who seems to be just like him. A brilliant idea from a lady who showed to be stronger and more intelligent than the way women in her society were expected to be.
"La falsa criada" is a play written by the French novelist and dramatist Pierre de Marivaux.
The Peruvian director, Alberto Isola, had always wanted to stage it (since he read it for the first time studying in Milan), and it is now being presented in "Teatro La Plaza" at Larcomar.
The cast is conformed by six different actors, representing:
Trivelino - Miguel Iza
Frontino - Alberick García
Barón - Alejandra Guerra
Lelio - Leonardo Torres
Arlequino - Christian Ysla
Condesa - Norma Martínez
The play is divided in two acts, and the plot goes around the decision of a noble lady to dress up as a man in order to discover who the man she was going to marry really was. "El barón" becomes Lelio's intimate friend, and by doing this, the lady achieves to save her family's fortune, and punish Lelio for his attitude towards life and women.
According to my hypothesis, variety and dynamism in the play are created thanks to aspects and moments inspired /extracted from Commedia Dell'Arte.
Firstly, some types of characters in commedia dell'arte can be compared to some characters in La Falsa Criada.
Clearly, Arlequino is inspired in the Italian character Arlecchino, which was the most famous servant, who tried to trick his masters (often failing), and was very quick, acrobatic and limber.
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| Lady "lover" |
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| Arlecchino |
In the play, Arlequino is one of the most comic characters. His purpose is to entertain and amuse the audience with his silly jokes and personality. In the end, he tries to trick the masters in order to receive a reward, but his clumsiness is stronger than his wish for money. Although characters do not wear masks as in Commedia Dell'Arte, the face, body and voice expression used by this character are essential in order to achieve the funny effect in the audience.
On the other hand, the "condesa" may not be exact but can be compared to the typical lady/"lover" in Commedia Dell'Arte. The lovers had high status in town (sons or daughters of rich families), but their status was slightly lowered because of infatuation.
In this case, the condesa belongs to a very high status in society, and shows to be rich and "spoiled", as Pantalone's daughter in Commedia Dell'Arte.
She is almost carried away by unreasoned passion and love for the Barón, and almost accepts to loose an amount of money if she can stay with the man she loves.
Finally, although they can be very different, a comparison between Lelio and Pantalone can be done, because Pantalone was obsessed with money, very high on the social ladder, and lusts for women all the time.
In La falsa criada, Lelio does not care about women feelings, and is obsessed with the idea of having more money and a higher social status. On the other hand, he has a huge ego like Il Capitano, and as well as him, behind his front of courage he is actually a coward.
This diversity of characters which can be very similar to different characters of Commedia Dell'Arte contributes to the dynamism and essence of the play.
Finally, other moments that help to make the play more interesting and dynamic are the moments where artistic elements such as singing and playing instruments are included, as they were in Commedia Dell'Arte.
Trivelino and Arlequino are key to create comic scenes such as the one where they compose a song and sing it on stage.
Another very funny and important moment performed by one of these characters is the representation of a conversation between the Baron and Condesa, where the changes in voice, face and body expressions imitating each character are essential to create a dynamic and amusing scene.
For all these reasons, a direction concept for this play would maybe have been inspired in Italian Commedia Dell'Arte, or in Italy around the year 1801.
Although the play may have slow moments, aspects such as music that doesn't work much, and may be very long, it does work to an extent, thanks to moments such as the ones explained before and characterisation in some of the actors.
In conclusion, variety and dynamism in the play are created thanks to aspects and moments inspired /extracted from Commedia Dell'Arte such as the characters, music elements and comic moments (with body, voice and face expression replacing masks).
As Alberto Isola mentioned, it is a play that seems to have been written to be presented in our days, as it touches themes that are still present in our society.
They play shows the determination and power of women, who should fight for their rights, free will and welfare.
A well focused play review, but you should have also referred to the design elements to support your hypothesis. The weakest parts of your review are those in which you refer uncritically to the director's intentions and opinions. Still, your analytical skills are visibly improving.
ResponderEliminarRoberto