Play Review

A Servant to Two Masters


After going to see A Servant to Two Masters on campus I was thoroughly impressed. The acting was outstanding and kept me interested and laughing the whole way through. The actors seemed very comfortable in their roles and they seemed to know their lines inside and out which made it very believable and not like they were constantly thinking of what to say next. No one character seemed to hog all the attention, although the play more or less revolves around the development of Truffaldino, he wasn’t the only character that grabbed my attention. All of the actors complemented each other’s performances very well.

This play was written as a comedy and in my opinion it was a prime example. Each character was very well developed and seemed like they could have been the star of their own play. My personal favorite was Truffaldino’s character. His style of comedy, and the way the actor executed it had me laughing the whole time. There was plenty of conflict and the overall plot was well developed.

Watching the way the play was directed was a real treat. The pace was just right. It seemed that every time the plot started to slow down, there was an interesting scene to grab my attention again. The choreography was very well done and interesting to watch. The way the actors carried themselves really brought life to their characters. The entire concept of the play was the most interesting part. Truffaldino, the most developed character, gave the audience a view of what can happen when you have too much on your plate. Because of his greed and selfishness he almost ended the lives of Beatrice and Florindo but in the end he gave himself up for the love of Smeraldina.

I was immediately impressed with the characters’ costumes, the lighting, and the set design of the play. I didn’t think that any of these things took away from the play itself; I simply noticed more detail because I was looking for it. The costumes gave me an immediate reaction to the personalities of the characters. Truffaldino dressed like a jester and Smeraldina with her tight fitting dress and bright red makeup were two that I think were done especially well. Along with their wardrobes, the use of the half faced masks really made the characters even more unique. The exaggerated facial expressions added to the overall personalities of their characters. Along with costumes the set was very well designed. The way the lines of the set were drawn gave the whole thing depth, which made it feel more 3 dimensional and it felt like you were in Venice with them. I was impressed with the simple and fast set changes gave different scenes a whole new feel. To add to the fantastic costume and set design, the lighting was the final touch on the whole thing. Although it was very simple, it set the mood for each scene. One scene in particular was the scene when Florindo and Beatrice were going to hang themselves. The shadows from the lighting really set the dark mood of the scene.

The overall feel of the show was very good. This was the first time I was in the theater in Waller and I was not disappointed. It was small which made the play seem more personal and I was close enough to really be able to critic the acting. With an I-Card the play only cost 8 dollars, and for 2 hours of amusement it was more than worth it. I was definitely impressed with the level of expertise that went into making a college show like this one. The audience was somewhat small but very interactive which affected the overall feel of the performance in a good way. I felt like the crowd was a real part of play. All in all I was more than impressed with everything about this play from the acting, to the directing, costumes and set, and the level of professionalism for a play in college. I wouldn’t hesitate to see another play here at IUP in the future.