"What a delight it is to read Robert Cohen's translation and
adaptation of
Clizia by
Niccolò
Machiavelli. This compact five-act piece leaps off
the page with wit, verve, and really funny moments. It
presents Machiavelli's early Commedia dell'Arte as it is was
surely intended: replete with lively songs, direct addresses
to the audience, ridiculous twists of fate, and those
requisite bawdy situations. Actors will enjoy the challenges
of presenting this set of ridiculous stock commedia
characters. Directors will revel in the nonstop action, and
the rich comedic opportunities for theatrical staging. From
start to finish, Cohen is true to the form of Commedia and,
at the same time, sensitive to the needs of a contemporary
audience. This piece is tons of fun to read . . . and
screams out to be staged."
~ Eli Simon, Artistic Director, New Swan Shakespeare
Festival, Chancellor's Professor of Acting, UC Irvine
www.elisimon.com
“I was struck by the performative potential of this
translation. It is not a line-by-line transposition from one
language to another, but a Clizia that can be read,
performed, and enjoyed today. It captures a specific visual,
melodic, and theatrical universe; its text bubbling on the
page with the dynamism Machiavelli intended. Its stage
directions are a canovaccio, a door into improvisatory
opportunities; its contemporary colloquialism bridges the
gap between tradition and today's sensibilities. Bellissimo!!!!”
~ Roberto Prestigiacomo, Professor of Human Communication and
Theatre - Trinity University; Producing Artistic Director of
AtticRep, San Antonio
“Professor Cohen’s rendering of Machiavelli’s Clizia is an
erudite and informed translation, one that is both correct,
fluent and idiomatic, and furnished with a first-rate
introduction. Most important, Cohen wrote it to be
performed. His is a first-rate piece of work which will
delight Renaissance scholar, director and modern theater-goer.”
~ James Chiampi, Professor of Italian, University of California,
Irvine