The Love of Three Oranges
From the dusty annals of theatre history and the rich traditions of commedia dell’arte comes a brand new version of a classic story. . .
Based on the scenario L’Amore Delle Tre Melarance by Carlo Gozzi, 1761
Based on a scenario by Carlo Gozzi and inspired by his original project, Hillary DePiano’s version of The Love of Three Oranges is a wild raucous slapstick comedy in three acts completely reworked, revised, retooled and redone for today’s audiences. For anyone who has searched for a more accessible version of this classic text and found that it has indeed become a “musty old narrative,” you will find that this Oranges has a little bit of everything to tickle either your funny bone or inner scholar. Prince Tartaglia’s life is filled with misery until an evil witch and her equally evil henchmen concoct a plan to kill him by sending him on a quest for three giant oranges. This quest, however, soon proves more fruitful than he could have imagined. Once he leaves the sheltered world of the castle he finds a friend in a clown, love in an orange, and most of all laughter in everything he meets. Throw in witches, wizards, princesses, an effeminate unionized devil, a few ferocious inanimate objects, melodramatic monarchs and a wild narrator who isn’t sure how far removed from the story he is and what you have in the end is a flurry of comedy, parody, and quality that entertains and educates on many levels.
Title: The Love of Three Oranges
Subtitle: a play for the theatre that takes the commedia dell’arte of Carlo Gozzi and updates it for the new millennium
ISBN-10: 1411602250
ISBN-13: 9781411602250
Language: English
Purchase from Amazon
Type of Play: Comedy, Based on Commedia Dell’arte Scenario
Educational benefits and relevance: History of Italian Theatre, Commedia Dell’arte, Carlo Gozzi and Carlo Goldoni, Improvisation, Stage Combat, Physical Comedy (Pratfalls, slapstick, etc), Masks, History of Comedy, Commedia Today
Performance Info:
- Male Speaking Roles: 8*
*=3 of the leading Male Roles are written to easily switch to female roles - Female Speaking Roles: 8
- Non-Gender Specific Roles: 8
- Minimum Number of Performers Required: 13
(Actors with smaller parts can easily play more than one role) - Maximum Number of Performers: Unlimited Ensemble (Ensemble of Ball Guest, Bumpkins, Servants, Guards, etc can be any size desired)
- Number of Acts: 3
- Intermission: 1 or 2 depending on your needs
- Staging: minimal
- Run time: About 2 hours