Pagliacci

The show must go on, but how?

For Canio and his traveling troupe, painted smiles and colorful costumes belie infidelity and betrayal. The façade is shattered when a hidden affair is revealed and a lighthearted night at the theater gives way to jealousy, suspicion, and ultimately violence. As the line between performance and reality blurs and the drama onstage begins to mirror the turmoil offstage, Pagliacci begs the question—does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

 Estimated Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes with 1 intermission

Sung in Italian with English captions projected above the stage.

Full plot synopsis is available HERE.

Content Warnings/Age Recommendations

Act I of this production includes a representation of an attempted sexual assault. Act II includes a representation of the murder of two characters by gun shots, witnessed by children, as well as talk of suicide. Recommended for ages 14 and older with parent/guardian discretion.

Themes

• This show is about a performance company with serious tension happening behind the scenes. Choices are made between maintaining the appearance of getting along, or being open about those tensions (as well as publicly acting upon them). This story is a rather extreme example of this dynamic, but in real life we often make decisions about what we present in public vs what we feel in private. If you had an issue with someone, when might you decide to make the issue public? When might you handle it privately? And what factors would influence your decision?

• Director Brenna Corner writes, “Our staging is set in the 1970s within a dusty warehouse—a graveyard for forgotten memories. Forty years after the tragedy, an aged Tonio returns to the troupe’s abandoned crates. Driven by guilt, he uncovers the old props, and the story comes to life before him.” Why do you think they chose to place it in a more recent time period? And why do you think they chose to present the story as a memory? How might an event feel different when we look back on it later in life?

Accessibility

Many performance venues offer accessibility accommodations such as wheelchair seating, assistive listening, sensory ear plugs, ASL interpretation, open captioning, or audio description, among other options. These accommodations are specific to each event, and may not be available everywhere. When registering with us, please let us know what accommodations you need and we will follow up with you!

Transportation

If you do not have access to a ride, call Project Success and we can provide transportation for you. Please let us know if you need a ride when you make your reservation. We will need at least 2 days’ notice to set up transportation.