Carlo Goldoni: “Miranda or The Mistress of the Inn”

• MS 1993.4

A script of Carlo Goldoni’s “Miranda or The Mistress of the Inn” adapted by Freyda Thomas and David Carlyon for performance by the Virginia Museum Theatre from Nov. 8–Dec. 1, 1984.

Carlo Goldoni (1707–1798) spent most of his life working as a dramatist and librettist in Venice. During his early career, he worked as a dramatist for the San Samuele Theatre and as literary director for the San Giovanni Grisostomo opera house. Financial disaster forced him to leave Venice in 1743, but he returned in 1748 and joined the Sant’ Angelo Theatre in Venice as house dramatist. Between 1748 and 1752, Goldoni wrote a series of comedies, including “La Locandiera” (The Mistress of the Inn). Goldoni also collaborated with the composer Baldassare Galuppi in the creation of opera buffa and made many contributions to the reform of Italian comedy. Goldoni recounts his life and creations in his Memoires, published in 1787.

For additional biographical information, see The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre, Ref PN 2035 C27 1988.