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The Mandrake
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The Mandrake
The Mandrake (Italian: La Mandragola [la manˈdraːɡola]) is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. The five-act comedy was published in 1524. Though it is focused on private, non-political affairs, some scholars read into the play as being a mirror to his political treatises.
The Mandrake takes place over a 24-hour period. The protagonist, Callimaco, desires to sleep with Lucrezia, the young and beautiful wife of an elderly fool, Nicia. Nicia above all else desires a son and heir, but still has none. Conspiring with both Ligurio, a rascally marriage broker, and a corrupt priest named Friar Timoteo, Callimaco masquerades as a doctor. He convinces Nicia to drug Lucrezia with mandrake, claiming it will increase her fertility. He adds, however, the dire warning that the mandrake will undoubtedly kill the first man to have intercourse with her. Ligurio helpfully suggests to Nicia that an unwitting fool be found for this purpose. A reluctant Lucrezia is eventually convinced by her mother and the priest to comply with her husband's wishes. She allows a disguised Callimaco into her bed and, believing that the events which caused her to break her marriage vows were due to divine providence, thereafter accepts him as her lover on a more permanent basis.
The play is mentioned in the 16th Letter of Amabed in Voltaire's Les Lettres d'Amabed (1769) stating that "the piece mocks the religion which Europe preaches, of which Rome is the centre, and the throne of which is the Papal See". Other critics like John Najemy have interpreted scenes with the priest as Machiavelli pointing out "the social and political necessity of interpreting religion".
Wallace Shawn's translation, commissioned by Joseph Papp, was staged in 1977 at the Public Theater in Manhattan, and it launched Shawn's stage acting career as well.[citation needed] La Mandragola was performed in student-run theaters in the late 1960s.
The Riverside Shakespeare Company performed The Mandrake at the Casa Italiana in New York City in 1979, starring Tom Hanks as Callimaco. This run was directed by Dan Southern, with an original jazz score by pianist Michael Wolff, and Italian Renaissance sets by Gerard Bourcier.
The Mumeijuku Company performed La Mandragola, un Fiore Velenoso at the Sunshine Theater of Sunshine-City in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in 1981, starring Koji Yakusho as Callimaco and Tatsuya Nakadai as Nicia. This run was directed by Ms. Yasuko Miyazaki(Mrs. Tatsuya Nakadai), a.k.a. Ms. Tomoe Ryu, who has won the National Arts Festival (sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan) Excellence Award for directing Henrik Johan Ibsen's The Master Builder, Solness in 1980.
In 1984 Wallace Shawn's translation The Mandrake was produced at London's National Theatre.
The Long Beach Shakespeare Company mounted a production of The Mandragola in the Spring of 2011, directed by Helen Borgers.
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The Mandrake
The Mandrake (Italian: La Mandragola [la manˈdraːɡola]) is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. The five-act comedy was published in 1524. Though it is focused on private, non-political affairs, some scholars read into the play as being a mirror to his political treatises.
The Mandrake takes place over a 24-hour period. The protagonist, Callimaco, desires to sleep with Lucrezia, the young and beautiful wife of an elderly fool, Nicia. Nicia above all else desires a son and heir, but still has none. Conspiring with both Ligurio, a rascally marriage broker, and a corrupt priest named Friar Timoteo, Callimaco masquerades as a doctor. He convinces Nicia to drug Lucrezia with mandrake, claiming it will increase her fertility. He adds, however, the dire warning that the mandrake will undoubtedly kill the first man to have intercourse with her. Ligurio helpfully suggests to Nicia that an unwitting fool be found for this purpose. A reluctant Lucrezia is eventually convinced by her mother and the priest to comply with her husband's wishes. She allows a disguised Callimaco into her bed and, believing that the events which caused her to break her marriage vows were due to divine providence, thereafter accepts him as her lover on a more permanent basis.
The play is mentioned in the 16th Letter of Amabed in Voltaire's Les Lettres d'Amabed (1769) stating that "the piece mocks the religion which Europe preaches, of which Rome is the centre, and the throne of which is the Papal See". Other critics like John Najemy have interpreted scenes with the priest as Machiavelli pointing out "the social and political necessity of interpreting religion".
Wallace Shawn's translation, commissioned by Joseph Papp, was staged in 1977 at the Public Theater in Manhattan, and it launched Shawn's stage acting career as well.[citation needed] La Mandragola was performed in student-run theaters in the late 1960s.
The Riverside Shakespeare Company performed The Mandrake at the Casa Italiana in New York City in 1979, starring Tom Hanks as Callimaco. This run was directed by Dan Southern, with an original jazz score by pianist Michael Wolff, and Italian Renaissance sets by Gerard Bourcier.
The Mumeijuku Company performed La Mandragola, un Fiore Velenoso at the Sunshine Theater of Sunshine-City in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in 1981, starring Koji Yakusho as Callimaco and Tatsuya Nakadai as Nicia. This run was directed by Ms. Yasuko Miyazaki(Mrs. Tatsuya Nakadai), a.k.a. Ms. Tomoe Ryu, who has won the National Arts Festival (sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan) Excellence Award for directing Henrik Johan Ibsen's The Master Builder, Solness in 1980.
In 1984 Wallace Shawn's translation The Mandrake was produced at London's National Theatre.
The Long Beach Shakespeare Company mounted a production of The Mandragola in the Spring of 2011, directed by Helen Borgers.
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