A Servant of Two Masters

SYNOPSIS:

The play tells the story of a hungry servant who, upon realizing that working for two masters could ensure him a greater supply of food, tries to do the job of two men while working desperately to conceal that fact from both employers.

This commedia del'arte style play opens with the introduction of Beatrice, a woman who has traveled to Venice disguised as her dead brother in search of the man who killed him who turns out to also be her lover, Florindo Her brother forbade her to marry Florindo, and died defending his sister's honor. Upon finding this out, Beatrice in the disguise goes to collect a dowry money from the father of Clarice, her brother's betrothed. She wants to use this money to help her lover escape, and to allow them to finally wed.

Beatrice's servant, the exceptionally quirky and comical Truffaldino, is the central figure of this play. He is always complaining of an empty stomach, and always trying to satisfy his hunger by eating everything and anything in sight. When the opportunity presents itself to be servant to another master (Florindo, as it happens) he sees the opportunity for an extra dinner.

As Truffaldino runs around Venice trying to fill the orders of two masters, he is almost uncovered several times, especially because other characters repeatedly hand him letters, money, etc. and say simply "this is for your master" without specifying which one. To make matters worse, the stress causes him to develop a temporary stutter, which only arouses more problems and suspicion among his masters. To further complicate matters, Beatrice and Florindo are staying in the same hotel, and are searching for each other.

In the end, Beatrice and Florindo finally find each other, and with Beatrice exposed as a woman in disguise as her brother, Clarice is allowed to marry the man she now loves. The last matter up for discussion is whether Truffaldino and Smeraldina (Clarice's family servant) can get married, which at last exposes Truffaldino's having played both sides all along. However, as everyone has just decided to get married, Truffaldino is forgiven. Truffaldino asks Smeraldina to marry him.

The most famous set-piece of the play is the scene in which the starving Truffaldino tries to serve a banquet to the entourages of both his masters without either group becoming aware of the other, while desperately trying to satisfy his own hunger at the same time.