The Mistress of the Inn

The Mistress of the Inn (Italian: La locandiera [la lokanˈdjɛːra]), also translated as The Innkeeper Woman or Mirandolina (after the play's main character), is a 1753 three-act comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni about a coquette.[1] The play has been regarded as his masterpiece.[2] Frederick Davies describes it as Goldoni's Much Ado About Nothing.[3]

The Mistress of the Inn
Constantin Stanislavski as Ripafratta in 1898.
Written by	Carlo Goldoni
Date premiered	1753
Place premiered	Republic of Venice
Original language	Italian
Subject	Coquetry
Genre	Comedy
Setting	Mirandolina's inn in Florence

Characters

• Mirandolina, the mistress of the inn
• Baron Ripafratta
• Marquis of Forlipopoli
• Count of Albafiorita
• Fabrizio, a servant of the inn
• the Baron's servant
• Ortensia
• Dejanira

Production history

Eleonora Duse is one of the actresses to have played its lead role, Mirandolina; she gave a command performance for Queen Victoria at Windsor on 18 May 1894.[4]

The play was one of those produced by the world-famous Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) in its first season.[5] This production opened in a double-bill with Greta's Happiness by Emilia Matthai on 2 December 1898.[5] It was directed by Constantin Stanislavski, who also played the misogynist Ripafratta.[6] Stanislavski directed the play in a second production at the MAT, which opened on 3 February 1914 after 112 rehearsals.[7] He played the role of Ripafratta once more.[8] The artist Alexandre Benois provided the scenic design for this production, which was conceived as a showcase for the actress Olga Gzovskaya.[9]

Adaptations

In 1773 the Venetian composer Antonio Salieri and the librettist Domenico Poggi adapted the play as a three-act dramma giocoso.[10] In 1800 the German composer Simon Mayr and Italian librettist Gaetano Rossi adapted it as a two-act dramma giocoso.[11] The American composer Henry Kimball Hadley adapted it as a one-act comic opera called Bianca, which was first performed in 1918.[12] Bohuslav Martinů also produced an operatic version, his three-act Mirandolina, which was first performed in 1959. The play was also adapted into several films, notably Paolo Cavara's La locandiera and Tinto Brass' Miranda.

Eleonora Duse as Mirandolina in 1891.

See also

• Miranda (1985 film)

References

1. Banham (1998, 433), Davies (1968, 191), Hartnoll (1983, 340), and Worrall (1996, 32).
2. Hartnoll (1983, 340).
3. Davies (1968, 191).
4. Hartnoll (1983, 240).
5. Benedetti (1999, 386) and Worrall (1996, 104-105).
6. Benedetti (1999, 386) and Worrall (1996, 106).
7. Benedetti (1999, 218, 387).
8. Benedetti (1999, 387).
9. Benedetti (1999, 217).
10. Rice (1992).
11. Balthazar (1992).
12. Boardman (1932, 131-132).

Sources

• Balthazar, Scott L. 1992. "Mayr, Simon." In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-73432-7.
• Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0-521-43437-8.
• Benedetti, Jean. 1999. Stanislavski: His Life and Art. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-52520-1.
• Boardman, Herbert R. 1932. Henry Hadley: Ambassador of Harmony. Georgia: Banner P.
• Davies, Frederick, trans. 1968. Four Comedies. By Carlo Goldoni. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044204-9.
• Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. 1983. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 0-19-211546-4.
• Rice, John A. 1992. "Salieri, Antonio." In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-73432-7.
• Worrall, Nick. 1996. The Moscow Art Theatre. Theatre Production Studies ser. London and NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05598-9.

External links

• The Mistress of the Inn at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Mistress of the Inn public domain audiobook at LibriVox