GJHS to perform 'The Servant of Two Masters'

Jan. 31—GOSHEN — Goshen Jr. High Schoolers will be performing "The Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni at Goshen Theater Friday.

Students come from the advanced theater class at the school.

"It is a very hard show," Angela Stoltzfus, Goshen Jr. High School theater teacher, admitted. "And for these kids, it's long, and it's a lot of lines. Some have over 100 lines."

"The Servant of Two Masters" tells the story of one Traffaldino, who gets two jobs as a servant of two different masters in order to double his wages, but all is not as it seems. One of his masters is a lady in disguise, while the other is her boyfriend. It's an 18th-century Commedia dell'arte play, an early form of improv comedy.

Traffaldino is a Zanni, a stock character often identified as an astute servant and a trickster-type. Traffaldino in the junior high adaption is motivated by food.

"One of the big things about this genre is that these characters are based on stock or stereotype characters, and so they represent all kinds of different people that still exist in our society," Stoltzfus said, adding that Traffaldino is one of the beginnings of what becomes the court jester or class clown stereotype.

Each of the characters represents other popular stereotypes — the servants, the masters, the lovers, and their unique categories within the category such as the know-it-all, wealthy old man, or thug.

"Art of this genre is improvisation," Stoltzfus said. "There are certain ways the characters walk, certain ways the characters talk, certain lazzis or slapstick things that were invented and connected to this genre."

The second-year class focuses more heavily on character work and blocking. Educationally, they're focusing on medieval theater and Italian Renaissance theater, which bled into the Shakespearian era, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The form continued on in England during that time.

Students in the class were given several plays to pick from and they chose the Italian comedy. The version of "The Servant of Two Masters" that the school uses is a rewrite based on a children's adaption of the original by Lance Davis.

Students also write the play based on the format of the original story.

"I never let them perform straight from a script that is already done except for their last show in (advanced theater)," Stoltzfus said.

Students also manage backstage lighting and sound. Most years they would also build parts of the stage, but since the play has been done by the school before, they already had the props and stage needed.

The advanced class will be performing three shows this school year but has been working on this one since September.

With no theater class offered at Goshen High School right now, it might be one of the only school-based performance opportunities many of the students have.

"It's all extracurricular stuff and a lot of these kids are going to be athletes or club leaders, they're going to be Honor Society leaders, the band kids, high orchestra, and they have to start making choices at the high school," Stoltzfus said. "What's nice about the way our principal has structured things here is they've got as many experiences here as possible ... and then they can go to the high school and they say, 'This is what I want to participate in. This is what I enjoyed.'"

Stoltzfus said more important than figuring out what they enjoy though is the confidence students can build in performing arts.

"There are so many lifestyles here," Stoltzfus said. "They're going to have to go high school and they're going to have to do speeches for example. ... It's about faking that confidence. You go into a job interview and you're a nervous wreck, but theater can teach you how to fake the confidence that you need to present the best version of yourself."

Stoltzfus added that theater also teaches students the importance of working as a team and the impact one person can have on the whole.

"The teamwork in a real job situation, it's what they call in school 'soft skills,' but it's super important," she said.

The performances will be 6 and 7:30 p.m. at the Goshen Theater. An offering will be accepted at the door. The suggested donation is $3 per person.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.