On the threshold of the “Year of Italy in Russia and Russia in Italy” announced in 2011 Saratov Academic Kiselev Youth Theater presents the premiere performance of the play by famous Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi “The Love of Three Oranges”. The performance was created by the Italian production team familiar to the Saratov audience for their performances “A Servant to Two Masters”, “The Italian Marriage”, “Noises off” and “The Chairs and the Bald Soprano”: director Paolo Emilio Landi, production-designer - Santi Migneco, ballet mistress - Lidia Biondi. The project went with the financial support of the Italian Institute of Culture in Moscow. Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) is an Italian playwright, author of the fairytale plays “The Love of Three Oranges”, “Turandot”, “The Raven”, “The King Stag” etc. Carlo Gozzi included in his works various folk culture elements and based it on the principles of the commedia dell'arte, choosing the masks for his characters in its tradition. He insisted on preserving and promoting the Italian folklore theater tradition. Gozzi created the new genre - a “fiaba” or tragicomic fairytale for the theater. One of the first examples of these genre became a play “The Love of Three Oranges” that was written specially for the troupe of Antonio Sacchi, a famous Italian improvising actor of the ХVIII century. This fiaba is unique because most of it is based on improvisation, while the next nine Gozzi’s fiabas only in part kept the improvisation element. The famous Russian composer S. Prokofiev used this tale for his opera in 1919. The fairytale’s plot is known to most of us. In the fairy kingdom the prince suffers from terrible hypochondria. The King who is worried for his son sends for Truffaldino, a famous comedian and humorist, to heal the prince’s dreadful illness. But then an evil sorceress interferes who curses the prince, he is now doomed to go for the quest for the three magical oranges. Unable to think of anything else except his love of three oranges, the prince together with Truffaldino goes on a long and dangerous journey, guided by the help of a good sorcerer, who is the protector of the fairy kingdom. The unique feature of our theater’s production is its full accordance with the principles of the commedia dell'arte. Commedia dell'arte is a form folk theatre that began in Italy in the year characterized by masked "types", the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Commedia dell'arte is considered to be the first professional type of Renaissance theater. Just as the first famous production of Carlo Gozzi, Saratov Kiselev Youth Theater performance is based on improvisation. Director Paolo Emilio Landi together with the actors of our theater created new text based on the Gozzi’s fable, the play was created from actor’s improvisation during the rehearsal. Following the plot created by the playwright director gives to the actor the possibility to construct his character’s behavior - but strictly in frames of the commedia dell'arte mask. And the audience will see almost all of them this time: Truffaldino, Pantalone, Brighella, Tartaglia, Smeraldina, etc.
