Pepin the short, the small king who was father of Charlemagne, the great leader of France. The playwrit decided to write this fabulous play focusing on the life of this small but funny character, creating a very interesting play. I enjoyed it for many reasons, the background art, the good acting of the performers, and much more. The actors looked frequently at the audience, making it part of the play. Read and enjoy the play of Tony Cucchiara.
The play is set in France, between 735 and 740 b.c.. The main character are Pepin the short, Falista, who fakes to be Pepin's promised wife, and then marries with him, her squire Marante, Berta, who is the true promised wife, and three diplomats who are called: Bernardo, Aquilone, and Morando. My favorite character is Pepin, because he has a good sense of humorism, making everybody laugh. The play was written by Tony Cucchiara in 1978.
The play opens in the palace of Pepin the short, he is old, and his courtesans try to convince him to marry, so he can have descendants to run the kingdom after his death. He acknowledges the problem, and he says that he will marry with a beautiful women, and have many descendants. He asks his courtesans to find for him such a women, and they say that Berta, the princess of Hungary, is young, beautiful, and unmarried. Pepin the short tells them to send his diplomats: Bernardo, Aquilone, and Morando, to the King of Hungary with many presents. They will then ask Berta's hand, in the name of Pepin. The courtesans then say to Pepin that Berta has only one problem, she has one foot bigger than the other. The courtesans are relieved when Pepin says he does not care. The travel is planned, and the three diplomats depart for Hungary. Arrived to the king's palace, they ask the fatidical question to the father of Berta. The king answers with a yes, he is happy for the daughter, but he is sad for her departure. They depart again, but they are stopped a German baron. The baron invites them to a party and they happily accept. The party goes well, but the German king is evil, and he sends his daughter Falista and her squire to travel with the group. The baron has a plan, the squire will kill Berta, and Falista will take her place. The plan is successful, Falista marries with Pepin, but one thing goes wrong. Marante does not have the heart to kill Berta, so he leaves her tied to a tree to die of hunger. A hunter passes nearby and saves Berta. Ten years later there is another problem, the King of Hungary and his wife visit Pepin, but they find Falista instead of Berta. Pepin gets angry, and condemns to death The two of them. The servant does not want to die, so he says that if he beats the king's hero, he they will be safe. He wins, but he kills also a courtesan, so they are slain anyways. The search for Berta starts, and they find her story sewn on a carpet. They find Berta, and Pepin marries her, They live happy ever after, and Pepin finally has his descendant, Charlemagne.
After this long, but I hope interesting, summary I hope the reader is still awake to read my opinion on the story. I think the traits of this play, that make it good are: the very artistic background, making the reader always understand the setting, the fantastic acting of the performers, they were funny, they made the audience part of the play, and they had clear voices, and finally the music. The play was full of songs, with fantastic musicians, singers and dancers. The problem of the play is the length; nobody understands that by the end of the play half of the audience is asleep, and only somebody discovers how the play finishes? This is not the fault of the actors, the actors' jobs are: to memorize their parts, to speak clearly so the audience understands at least some words, to not only use the voice, but also the hands, and to help other actors in difficulty, for example when they forget their lines.
In conclusion, I hope you all go to see this play also if you know all the story already. It not only entertains you, but it teaches you important facts on Pepin the short, king of France, and father of Charlemagne.
The play is set in France, between 735 and 740 b.c.. The main character are Pepin the short, Falista, who fakes to be Pepin's promised wife, and then marries with him, her squire Marante, Berta, who is the true promised wife, and three diplomats who are called: Bernardo, Aquilone, and Morando. My favorite character is Pepin, because he has a good sense of humorism, making everybody laugh. The play was written by Tony Cucchiara in 1978.
The play opens in the palace of Pepin the short, he is old, and his courtesans try to convince him to marry, so he can have descendants to run the kingdom after his death. He acknowledges the problem, and he says that he will marry with a beautiful women, and have many descendants. He asks his courtesans to find for him such a women, and they say that Berta, the princess of Hungary, is young, beautiful, and unmarried. Pepin the short tells them to send his diplomats: Bernardo, Aquilone, and Morando, to the King of Hungary with many presents. They will then ask Berta's hand, in the name of Pepin. The courtesans then say to Pepin that Berta has only one problem, she has one foot bigger than the other. The courtesans are relieved when Pepin says he does not care. The travel is planned, and the three diplomats depart for Hungary. Arrived to the king's palace, they ask the fatidical question to the father of Berta. The king answers with a yes, he is happy for the daughter, but he is sad for her departure. They depart again, but they are stopped a German baron. The baron invites them to a party and they happily accept. The party goes well, but the German king is evil, and he sends his daughter Falista and her squire to travel with the group. The baron has a plan, the squire will kill Berta, and Falista will take her place. The plan is successful, Falista marries with Pepin, but one thing goes wrong. Marante does not have the heart to kill Berta, so he leaves her tied to a tree to die of hunger. A hunter passes nearby and saves Berta. Ten years later there is another problem, the King of Hungary and his wife visit Pepin, but they find Falista instead of Berta. Pepin gets angry, and condemns to death The two of them. The servant does not want to die, so he says that if he beats the king's hero, he they will be safe. He wins, but he kills also a courtesan, so they are slain anyways. The search for Berta starts, and they find her story sewn on a carpet. They find Berta, and Pepin marries her, They live happy ever after, and Pepin finally has his descendant, Charlemagne.
After this long, but I hope interesting, summary I hope the reader is still awake to read my opinion on the story. I think the traits of this play, that make it good are: the very artistic background, making the reader always understand the setting, the fantastic acting of the performers, they were funny, they made the audience part of the play, and they had clear voices, and finally the music. The play was full of songs, with fantastic musicians, singers and dancers. The problem of the play is the length; nobody understands that by the end of the play half of the audience is asleep, and only somebody discovers how the play finishes? This is not the fault of the actors, the actors' jobs are: to memorize their parts, to speak clearly so the audience understands at least some words, to not only use the voice, but also the hands, and to help other actors in difficulty, for example when they forget their lines.
In conclusion, I hope you all go to see this play also if you know all the story already. It not only entertains you, but it teaches you important facts on Pepin the short, king of France, and father of Charlemagne.
1 comment:
Organization 4.5 events are in sequence, allowing reader to move through the essay easily
Ideas 4 good, events are still confusing (which may be the manner of the play)
Fluency 5 good flow from one sentence and paragraph to the next
*this has improved over the course of the year
Conventions 4.5 minor editing
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