Il Re Cervo

Il Re Cervo (The King Stag or The Stag King) is an Italian musical play by Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806)[1].

The original text

The magical tale brings to life King Deramo, the faithful Angela who loves him, his treacherous prime minister Tartaglia, several hare-brained members of his court, a magician, a parrot, magical stags, and a giant bear. It's a fairy tale for all ages, a story of love and betrayal, intrigue and mirth, magic spells and pageantry. It is a fantastical and at times satirical look at the destructive vices of ambition, jealousy, and lust, and the power of true love to transform and transcend them all. And like all good fairy tales, "The King Stag" is not only about enchantment. It's also enchanting.

Translations and adaptations

The play has been adapted into English a number of times in the 20th century, intyer alia by Stanley Vincent Longman ()[2] (as King Stag), by Eberle Thomas and Barbara Redmond (ss The King Stag)[3]

Translated from Longman's English translation into Afrikaans as Die Hertekoning by Alwyn Swart.

Adapted once again as The King Stag by Sylvia Ashby in 1993 (Winner: 1993 Anne Zorino Memorial Children’s Theatre Playwriting Award. Premiere production at Texas Tech University.)

Adapted as a Russian feature film called Король-олень (Romanized: Korol-olen), directed by Pavel Arsenov and shot at the Gorky Film Studio in 1969.

Performance history in South Africa

1974: Alwyn Swart directed his own Afrikaans translation/adaptation Die Hertekoning for PACT, with Laurence Lurie (Papegaai), Kritch Krook (Cigolotti), Esther van Rensburg (Smeraldina), Ronny Belcher (Brighella), Johan Engelbrecht (Truffaldino), Peter Terry (Pantaloon), Johan Blignaut (Tartaglia), Celia Barnard (Clarissa), Richard Carlsson (Leander), Joan Metlerkamp (Angela) and Richard van der Westhuizen (Deramo).

1974: Presented in the Stanley Longman English verion as King Stag by CAPAB English Drama Company Children's Theatre at the Hofmeyr Theatre starring Marion Achber.