Monday, May 23, 2016

At the Theatre


The Rome Savoyards and Plays in Rome
Present
Triple Bill
An evening of three short one act comedies by 
Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Floyd Dell, Anton Chekhov
together with a delightful barbershop quartet
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Porcelain and Pink by Francis Scott Fitzgerald

This comic one-act written in 1920 and included in F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story collection, Tales of the Jazz Age (a term he himself allegedly coined), involves a case of mistaken identity and pinpoints references to the seeds of change, in the evolving 1920's culture and the epochal distinction between the old and new generations. Regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century writers, in this short play, Fitzgerald makes comic yet marked reference to the dwindling of conservative values, to the fad of being well read and having an appreciation for culture and literature. Recurring themes addressed with less of a comic note, in many of his later dramatic novels.
Cast (in order of appearance): Gabrielle Chiararo, Fabiana De Rose, Ulan Iskakov
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The Angel Intrudes by Floyd James Dell
A witty one-act play written in 1918 and a satirical take of Anatole France's novel La Revolte des Anges, in which a guardian angel falls in love, joins the revolutionary movement of angels, and ultimately realizes that the overthrow of God is indeed meaningless. American editor,  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_critic" \o "Literary critic" literary critic,  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelist" \o "Novelist" novelist,  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playwright" \o "Playwright" playwright and  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet" \o "Poet" poet, Floyd Dell wrote extensively on controversial social issues of the early 20th century, to which this one-act makes light but poignant reference. Considered as "one of the most flamboyant, versatile and influential American Men of Letters of the first third of the 20th Century", Floyd Dell played a major part in the political and social movements originating in New York City's  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Village" \o "Greenwich Village" Greenwich Village, during the 1910s & 1920s and as editor of left-wing magazine,  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masses" \o "The Masses" The Masses, he was twice put on trial for publishing subversive literature.
Cast (in order of appearance):  Lee Archer, Rishad Noorani, Harry McCrory, Laura Ferri
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The Proposal by  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov" \o "Anton Chekhov" Anton Chekhov
Delightful  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-act_play" \o "One-act play" one-act  HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farce" \o "Farce" farce written in 1888-1889 and first performed in 1890. A fast-paced play of situational humour and a comic view of customs and marital unions among the whimsical, Russian upper class of late 19th century, at a time when Chekhov was in his late 20s. As he later became more worldly, his focus and style evolved and he is considered to be one of the seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in theater. The Proposal was successful in its first runs in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and quickly became popular in small towns across Russia. In 1935 in the Soviet Union, the Russian theatre practitioner Vsevolod Meyerhold combined The Proposal with Chekhov's other short plays The Bear and The Anniversary to form a three-act play called 33 Swoons, pinpointing the weakness of the pre-revolutionary intelligentsia.
Cast (in order of appearance): Gabriella Spadaro, Edoardo Camponeschi, Lydia O'Kane
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