Review: THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS at Cold Frame Collective

There are mistaken identities, women disguised as men, young lovers behaving ridiculously, fathers making decisions for their children, servants causing trouble, engagements made and unmade, and enough confusion to make you wonder if anyone in eighteenth-century Venice ever stopped to ask a follow-up question. In other words, The Servant of Two Masters is a farce, and Cold Frame Collective has fun with it.

 

Written by Carlo Goldoni, translated by Edward J. Dent, and directed by Audrey Barrett, The Servant of Two Masters comes from the tradition of commedia dell’arte, an Italian form of theatre known for stock characters, masks, exaggerated behavior, physical comedy, and improvisation. Goldoni was part of a shift away from improvised scenarios and toward scripted comedy, but many of the familiar commedia characters and conventions remain in the play.

The plot is ridiculous. Clarice wants to marry Silvio, but she had been promised to Federigo Rasponi before his death. Then Federigo turns up alive. Except he isn’t Federigo at all. He is Federigo’s sister, Beatrice, disguised as her dead brother while searching for her lover, Florindo, who also happens to be the man responsible for Federigo’s death. From there, keeping track of who knows what becomes half the fun.

Then there is Truffaldino. Beatrice’s servant decides that if one job means one meal, perhaps two jobs will mean two meals, so he also goes to work for Florindo. Of course, neither master knows about the other. Letters end up with the wrong people, trunks get mixed up, lovers jump to conclusions, and Truffaldino keeps digging himself deeper while trying to keep everyone happy and, more important, get something to eat.

 

Behind all the nonsense, Goldoni pokes fun at class, money, marriage, gender roles, and the older generation’s determination to control the lives of the young. The women must work around the men, the young lovers must work around their fathers, and just about everyone must work around whatever mess Truffaldino has created. For a comedy written in the 1700s, some of the issues haven’t changed much at all.

The masks worn by some of the characters also come from commedia dell’arte (I did the research!). Characters such as Pantalone and Il Dottore are stock types that audiences would have recognized on sight, and the masks help define and exaggerate those types. The lovers traditionally appear without masks, separating them from the old men, servants, and other comic characters around them. You don’t need to know any of this to enjoy the show, but it does explain why some characters remain masked while others do not.

Barrett doesn’t try to make the comedy more sophisticated than it needs to be. The cast works as a cohesive unit and keeps the farce moving through physical comedy, exaggerated reactions, and a willingness to look ridiculous when the moment calls for it. Everyone onstage contributes, and with this kind of comedy, that matters. One person dropping the pace can flatten the joke.

Sergio Alvarado as Truffaldino is at the center of most of the chaos and ups the antics with an innocent, almost childlike mischievousness. Truffaldino causes nearly every problem he spends the play trying to solve, and Alvarado makes his scheming feel less calculated than hopeful. He thinks maybe this time it will work. We know it probably won’t.

Erin Kessler has a good role in Pantalone, Clarice’s father, and gets a chance to show her comedic chops as one of the old farts determined to run the younger generation’s lives. Jim Bast as Doctor Lombardi, Silvio’s father, takes a different approach. His stoic presence and dry sense of humor play well against the frenzy around him. You don’t always have to be the loudest person onstage to get the laugh.

Savannah Stanley and Olaf Heins, as young lovers Clarice and Silvio, are absurdly over the top, which is exactly where they should be. Bonnie Lambert hits it out of the park in the dual role of Beatrice and her dead brother Federigo, the disguise at the center of the confusion. Lambert commits to the absurdity without winking at it.

The modern music is a fun addition and fits better than you might expect with a comedy written almost three centuries ago. The same is true of the fight movement by Mike Ooi and Jason Graf and choreography by Noah Cantrell. The movement is simple, broad, and sometimes downright silly, adding another joke to scenes already moving at a quick pace. A look, a pose, or an exaggerated turn can get as much of a laugh as the dialogue.

Is The Servant of Two Masters a theatrical gem? No, and it doesn’t need to be. It is a ridiculous story about women in disguise, mistaken identities, mischief, male arrogance, young lovers, arranged marriages, old farts, and one very hungry servant trying to pull off two jobs without either boss finding out.

It is fast, entertaining, and just a plain good time. Cold Frame Collective’s The Servant of Two Masters plays its final performances this weekend. Give it a shot. Sometimes going to the theatre and laughing for a couple of hours is reason enough.

The Servant of Two Masters
A Comedy by Carlo Goldoni
Translated by Edward J. Dent
Directed by Audrey Barrett
Produced by Caroline Mack & Lorin Mavis Craft

Now playing through August 23rd, 2026
Friday, August 21st at 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 22nd at 7:30 PM
Sunday, August 23rd at 5 PM

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