Fra Diavolo

Fra Diavolo or Fra Diovolo is the name of a character who appears in a number of theatrical works. Often the name is included in the title of the play, or is used as the name of a play.

The character Fra Diavolo

Fra Diavolo (lit. "Brother Devil") was the nickname given to a guerilla leader/brigand actually named Michele Pezza (1771–1806), and depending on the source, he was either an Italian soldier turned guerilla fighter and patriot, or he was a brigand who was made into a hero by his exploits against the French. Pezza figures prominently in Italian and French folk lore and fiction. He appears in several works of Alexandre Dumas for example, including The Last Cavalier, and Washington Irving's short story "The Inn at Terracina".

The plays about Fra Diavolo

Fra Diavolo ou l’Hôtellerie de Terracine by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber and Eugène Scribe

This is perhaps the most famous stage version and was first performed on 28 January, 1830 in the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and many times afterwards, in many languages.

Fra Diovolo, or The Banditti of the Abrouzes by

Fra Diovolo, or The Banditti of the Abrouzes was a "Grand Historical Pantomime" in two acts originally devised by a company referred to as "the Circus Theatre of Paris" (probably the Cirque des Champs-Elysées or the Cirque Olympique, both run by Louis Dejean[1]), to music by Guerroluch.

The performance dealt with the twenty-nine days' chase of the elusive guerilla leader/brigand Fra Diavolo (lit. "Brother Devil") by a company led by Colonel Hugo (the father of Victor Hugo) and his ultimate capture and execution.

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Sources

http://www.circopedia.org/Cirque_d'Hiver

Patrick Bridgwater. 2013. The German Gothic Novel in Anglo-German PerspectiveAmsterdam: Ropdopi: pp 435-6.[2]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

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