16th-century Deceived Receives UK Premiere
Date: 26 November 1998
This January sees a rare British premiere - that of an Italian play, performed 465 years after it was written. The Jet Theatre production of The Deceived (Gli'Ingannati), the source work for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, will embark on a short UK tour (5-16 January 1998) before an engagement at London's fringe Riverside Studios from 19 January to 7 February 1999.
The Deceived was written and first performed in 1532 by the literary society, the Intronati di Siena, as a comic remedy to smooth the waters following offence caused by Intronati's Twelfth Night Masque. When Shakespeare wrote his Twelfth Night in 1602, the Italian comedy was already well known throughout Europe, having been translated into French and Spanish.
While Shakespeare opted for delicately veiled eroticism in his version, The Deceived embarks on an overly sexual romp through 16th century Italian society, offering a startling view of the contemporary values. Here is a world of teenage sexual adverture, lustful nuns, scheming servants and horny old men, all set against the backdrop of Carnival.
Lelia, ordered by her father to marry the lecherous Gherardo, disguises herself as a boy to be near the man she loves, Flamminio - only to find herself embroiled in a bizarre love triangle with another woman, Isabella. The resulting mayhem threatens to drive two of Modena's most respected families to war.
Kenneth Rea directs this new British production of The Deceived, relocating the action to the late 1920s. Rea is artistic director of Jet Theatre as well as a senior lecturer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a movement coach for various companies including the RSC and the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
January tour dates include Crawley, Epsom, High Wycombe, Peterborough, Windsor, Walton-on-Thames and Harrow.
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