Il Servitore di due Padroni

Il Servitore di due Padroni ("The Servant of Two Masters") is a comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793)[1]

The original text

Written in Venice in 1745 and apparently first performed in Milan in 1749. Early drafts have large sections reserved for improvisation, but the 1753 revision has become the standard text.

Translations and adaptations

The play has often been translated and performed in English, usually under the title Servant of Two Masters (see for example Servant of Two Masters in Wikipedia[2]).

Also translated and adapted into English as The Hotel, or The Double Valet, a farce in two acts by Thomas Vaughan, Thomas (fl. 1772-1820)[], originally performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane in 1776, and published by T. Becket,1776. Vaughan apparently based his play not only on Carlo Goldoni's farce, but also on Arlequin Valet de Deux Maitres, a standard piece from the Italian commedia dell'arte, regularly performed by the Comédie Italienne in Paris.

Vaughan's play was in turn adapted as Two Strings to your Bow, a farce in two acts, by Robert Jephson (1736-1803)[3]. Jephson's version was originally performed in Ireland at Smock Alley under the title The Hotel, or The Servant with Two Masters in 1783 and printed in Cork. It was first performed in London at the Theatres Royal, Covent Garden and the Drury Lane as Two Strings to your Bow in 1791. Printed in London for C. and G. Kearsley,1791.

In his study F.C.L. Bosman (1928) wrongly attributes authorship of Two Strings to your Bow to the actor Andrew Cherry, who had played the character "Lazarillo" in the Drury Lane production.

Performance history in South Africa

1818: Performed as Two Strings to your Bow in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on 7 November, as a benefit for Mrs Brough, with The Will (Reynolds).

1823: Performed as Two Strings to your Bow by the Amateur Company as a benefit for Mrs Green, in the African Theatre, Cape Town on 25 November 1823; with Wild Oats by O'Keeffe.

1824: Performed as Two Strings to your Bow in the African Theatre on 24 July by the Garrison Players, along with John Bull, or an Englishman's Fireside (Colman Jr).

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_Two_Masters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Goldoni

Two strings to your bow: a farce, in two acts, as now performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden, with distinguished applause. By Robert Jephson, Esq. at http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/4239 via http://writersinspire.org/content/two-strings-your-bow-farce-two-acts-now-performed-theatre-royal-covent-garden-distinguished. Accessed on Friday, June 24, 2016.

The hotel: or, the double valet. A farce, in two acts. As it is performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By Thomas Vaughan, Esq. at http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/3999 via http://writersinspire.org/content/hotel-or-double-valet-farce-two-acts-it-performed-theatre-royal-drury-lane-thomas-vaughan. Accessed on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

Facsimile version of the 1806 published text by John Cawthorn, Google E-book[4]

David Erskine Baker. 1812. Biographia Dramatica: Or, A Companion to the Playhouse, Volume 2. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown: p. 310 - Google E-book[5]

Asier Altuna Garciá de Salazar. 2008 “Robert Jephson, Anglo-Ireland, A Spanish Lazarillo of Valencia and the farcical recourse to food in Two Strings to Your Bow (1791)” in Odisea No 9. [6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jephson

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [7]: pp. 155, 185

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays

Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays

Return to PLAYS III: Collections

Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances

Return to South African Festivals and Competitions

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page