La Calandria (play)

La Calandria is a comedy of the Italian Renaissance in five acts written by Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena in 1513.

The plot is based on Plautus' Menaechmi and one of the central character's, Calandro, was borrowed from Giovanni Boccaccio's, Decameron.

When deciding what he could do with his invisibility he entertains the thought of sneaking into the coffers of rich men and rob them until they were left with nothing.

As Lidio grows older and begins to search for his missing twin sister, his travels take him to Rome, where he falls in love with a married woman named Fulvia.

To get closer to her without detection Lidio takes on his sister's identity and sneaks into Fulvia's home as Santilla.

[2] At the time La Calandria was written the court held the majority of political power in society.

Presenting La Calandria, the prince gained even more political power through public entertainments sponsored by him.

[3] We have detailed information on the staging of La Calandria within the court of Urbino because of a letter written by Baldassare Castiglione (who served as the organizer of the entertainment) to Ludovico Canossa.

Beyond this area, was the front of the stage, an open space (which would act as the street in the play), which stood before houses of the city.

The perspectival stage set would create an illusion of a city with streets, palaces, churches and towers.

[3] "The scene was laid in a very in the city, with streets, palaces, churches, and towers, all in relief, and looking as if they were real, the effect being completed by admirable paintings in scientific perspective.

Among other objects there was an octagon temple in low relief, so well finished that, even if all the workmen in the duchy of Urbino had been employed, it seemed hardly possible to think that all this had been done in four months!"

This was also two weeks before death of Pope Julius II and the ascent of the Medici's to power on the papal throne.

In the twin's recognition of one another and their appearance in clothing of their true sex is their maturation and entry into adulthood and marriage.

This is to say a scene in which the twin or lover is locked out of his house, a twist that is seen throughout Italian theatre and late in plays such as Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.

This motif creates comic tension, enhanced by the presence of two pairs of twins and increases the errors.