Venice Preserv'd 1840s
Venice Preserv'd by Thomas Otway is a reformation play set in the city of Venice during a time of political turmoil. It follows the story of tragic characters, Pierre, Belvidera, Aquilina, and Jaffier, as they get caught up in the intrigue of Venetian politics. This version of the play was adapted to the 1840s Italian independence wars, making it particularly relevant to the time, and mirroring themes of political upheaval, patriotism, conspiracy, and strongly focusing on commenting on national identity. As the characters fall deeper and deeper into lies, secrets, and betrayal, a key period of Italian history is revealed.
Concept
Through this adaptation I want to represent a highly studied and relatively recent time period in Italian history - still often discussed and relevant (there are a lot of direct descendants of important figures in this time who are still in the public eye)
The costumes illustrate the growth of Italian national identity. When talking about Italian traditional dresses, it is essential to keep in mind that Italy is a young country and that the different lands that merged 150 years ago all brought different traditions and costumes into the formation of modern Italian culture
Thematic focus on an ineffective and corrupt government, something that will resonate with a modern audience, allowing them to pick up the parallels to the present Italian government. The similarities to modern day politicians such as the infamous figure of Berlusconi, and the widely accepted knowledge of (moral bankruptcies, bribes, immunity from the law, sexual perversion and scandal that permeate the governmental and bureaucratic institutions.
Through the characterization of Aquilina, I will touch on the north-south divide within Italy. The northern, central, and southern parts of Italy are different in cuisine, climate, agricultural tradition, language, industrial development, and attitude. There continues to exist prejudice that people from the north hold towards those from the much poorer south, and the phenomenon of migration upwards to find jobs which has long existed and is still very common today.