A rowdy romp

NewGate's knee-slapping Masters

by Bill Rodriguez

THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, by Carlo Goldoni. Directed by Brien Lang. With Laurent Y. Andruet, Clare Blackmer, David Lockhart, Anna DiStefano, Kelly Roarke, Terrence Shea, and Kerry Callery. At NewGate Theatre through March 28.

There's uproarious revelry going on downtown, and its name is The Servant of Two Masters. NewGate Theatre is giving Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century Italian comedy a knee-slapping rendition, under Brien Lang's direction, that would bring a grin to an Uffizzi bust.

You get mistaken identities and a woman disguised as a man, and several pairings of lovers yearning to be united. It's a world where a lovable illiterate rascal shows that a keen wit is every bit as useful as a noble birth. He survives and thrives and, while he's at it, pulls off a happy ending for himself as well as his employers.

Truffaldino (Laurent Y. Andruet) is the servant of the title, following a tradition of tricksters from commedia dell'arte up to a certain Wascally Wabbit. Goldoni's contribution to the lineage was to develop characters rather than just comic types. So Truffaldino's mischief comes from a place as specific as a stubbed toe -- he's poor and hungry, so the prospect of getting paid and fed by two gentleman is too much to resist.

In this bright production, the party atmosphere breezes along right from the start. Bantering servants greet you with drinks and hors d'oeuvres as you take your seat before Liza Williams' set, the view carnival-colored down to the faux marble floor and Matthew Doherty's crazy-quilt costumes. When Truffaldino comes to Florence, the first master he signs up with is going by the name of Federigo Raspini. Actually, she is Federigo's sister Beatrice (Clare Blackmer, in zesty mode). Her brother was killed in a duel with her lover Florindo (given a nice aloof touch by David Lockhart). They have fled their own city, and she is pretending to be her late brother in order to get a loan from the father of his fiancé. Of course, soon Truffaldino's back-up master is none other than Florindo. Per convention, the two lovers don't meet until the end of the play. But since they are staying at the same inn, their mutual employee gets to demonstrate his time-management skills, dashing around to serve two meals at once, for example. The scamp delights in the challenge of his predicament nearly as much as we do. And the opportunities for his scam to blow up are many -- starting with every time someone refers to his master without being specific.

Speaking of mastery, Andruet's timing is as finger-snapping precise as his comic skills are guffaw-inducing. Charm, panic, whimsy, exasperation? Sure, sure, sure, sure. In a cast whose acting skill ranges widely, he is the most consistent. Andruet's Truffaldino is cocky enough to pitch convincing woo to the maidservant Smeraldina (Anna DiStefano, his cocky match), yet not too puffed up to take twin beatings by his masters with the proper existential humility. He makes his character like a kid brother you shake your head over but hope he gets away with his rascality.

As this comedy gets clicking, many of the 11 on stage shine in a tour de farce scene or two. By Act II, William Oakes' Pantalone, the father of the prospective bride, has asserted mastery of the household with hand-rubbing authority. His daughter Clarice (Kelly Roarke) has grown deliciously feisty as she tells off her lover Silvio (Terrence Shea). In the beginning, I didn't know if Shea's mugging and pulling faces was going to wear thin, but he ended up standing triumphant, and hilarious, as he relentlessly kept going over the top. (I love the little thing Silvio does to bootstrap his status in a conversation, hopping up a step to be taller than his lover or rival.) The innkeeper Brighella gets a droll dimension, as Kerry Callery plays him like a Federal Hill homeboy, with the occasional "not for nuthin' " or "fugedaboudit."

The Servant of Two Masters is, in effect, an audition for director Lang, who is one of three finalists under consideration as artistic director for NewGate. As an actor Lang was subtly menacing last year in Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party at Alias Stage. Here he is showing his directorial chops to even more impressive effect. We might very well be seeing more from him along those lines at NewGate.