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Separated in infancy, twin brothers Pantalone and Dottore have grown up to be two very different men—but then again, maybe not so different. One thing is for sure: they are dead ringers for each other, and the fact that both of them answer to the name Menaechmus complicates the matter even further. Sisters Adriana and Luciana are also very different, but they get along—that is, until an unsuspecting man (or two) comes between them. Before it’s all said and done, a gaggle of pantomiming servants, entrepreneuring cosmetologists, and self-congratulating learnèd men—even a blind man and an old witch of a future mother-in-law—jump into the fray. |
A Bit of Plautus
A Bit of Shakespeare A Bit of Commedia dell’Arte |
Time
Long, long ago.
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Characters
(7 females / 6 males / 1-4 neutral) |
Place A prosperous port city.
Length Just under an hour.
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PANTALONE
DOTTORE ADRIANA LUCIANA ARLECCHINO COLUMBINA MOTHER FATHER SECRETARY OLD WITCH BLIND MAN DR. GREEN DR. BOYLE DR. PYTHAGORAS COSMETOLOGISTS ORPHANS DOGS STORYTELLERS Doubling
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A wealthy merchant who deals in cosmetics.
His estranged twin brother, a scientist. Pantalone’s high-maintenance fiancée. Her bookish sister. Dottore’s silent servant. Pantalone’s silent servant. The mother of Pantalone and Dottore. The father of Pantalone and Dottore. Pantalone’s employee. The mother of Adriana and Luciana. A resourceful bystander. A botanist. A metallurgist. A mathematician. Three lovely entrepreneurs with new products. Three lost lambs. Three stray animals. A team of narrators.
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