Scapin

Les Fourberies de Scapin is a comedy of intrigue by the French playwright Molière. When translated into English it has been called The Impostures of Scapin, Scapin the Schemer, and even Scapino, a celebrated adaptation that appeared on Broadway in the early 1970s. Frank Farrell's version set in the 1950s will simply be called Scapin. The title character Scapin is similar to the archetypical Scapino character, a stock character of the Italian commedia dell'arte; one of the comic servants, or zanni, who was especially noted for his cowardice, taking flight at the first sign of a conflict. The play was first staged with great success in 1671 in the theatre of the Palais-Royal in Paris. The play abounds in vivacity and is full of amusing situations. The scene is laid in Naples, for the reason, perhaps, that striking adventures and extraordinary circumstances seem more plausible when they take place in a foreign country. Farrell has directed four outdoor productions for Citadel over the past four summers; A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It (available via Amazon.com), Spoon River Anthology, and last summer's Romeo and Juliet (available via Amazon.com).