The Jester's Supper (play)

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Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore in the 1919 Broadway production of The Jest John & Lionel Barrymore in The Jest - Sep 1919 Shadowland.jpg
Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore in the 1919 Broadway production of The Jest

The Jester's Supper (Italian:La cena delle beffe) is a historical play by the Italian writer Sem Benelli, which was first staged in 1909. The work is inspired by a short story from Antonio Francesco Grazzini's Le Cene (I, 3).

Contents

In 1910 Sara Bernhardt played in "La Beffa" (adapted by Jean Richepin) the role of Gianetto Malespini.

In 1919 the play was put on in New York City, under the name The Jest, at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre. [1] It portrays a violent and cruel rivalry in the Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Adaptations

Opera

The play was the basis for an opera La cena delle beffe composed by Umberto Giordano with a libretto written by Benelli himself. It premiered at La Scala on 20 December 1924.

Film

In 1942 the play was adapted as a film, The Jester's Supper , directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Amedeo Nazzari and Osvaldo Valenti. [2] It was made at Cinecittà in Rome. The film was a popular success.

References

  1. ↑ Sassoon p.738
  2. ↑ Gundle p.192

Bibliography


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