''Andria'' is the first play written by
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise '' The Prince'' (), writte ...
, published in the period 1517–1520. It is a translation of
a play written by the Latin comedy writer
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...
, who had originally taken it from the Greek dramatist
Menander
Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter and the best-known representative of Athenian Ancient Greek comedy, New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the Cit ...
. It is one of the examples of
Machiavelli as a comedy writer, along with ''
The Mandrake'' and the ''
Clizia''. The play has been considered by some scholars semi-autobiographical.
Story
The story is about an old man, Simone, who wants his son, Panfilo, to marry Filumena, the daughter of his neighbour Cremete. Panfilo has, however, a secret love affair with Glicerio, a girl who is thought to be the sister of Criside, and who is pregnant by him. At Criside's funeral the old Simone gets to know about this secret. Suspecting Panfilo's love for Glicerio, Cremete breaks off the marriage contract.
Simone doesn't want to let Panfilo know, in order to test Panfilo's loyalty. The young boy doesn't want to forsake Glicerio, but pretends to go along with the wedding. Meanwhile, Cremete changes his mind and proceeds to renew the marriage contract. But then it comes to the old Critone, a friend of the deceased Criside, who recognizes Glicerio as Pasibula. Pasibula was Cremete's daughter, who was thought to have died in a shipwreck during a travel to the island of
Andros
Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...
. In the end there are two weddings: Panfilo marries Glicerio, and Carino, a friend of his, marries Filumena.
Production history
The ''Andria'' remained untranslated for the English stage until a limited run of
Michael Knowles' translation, ''The Girl from Andros'', was produced at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in April 2012. At the time of production, Machiavelli scholar Angela Capodivacca observed: "The new translation and performance of the ''Andria'' is hopefully going to open new ways of inquiry and thinking about the relationship between Machiavelli and translation, Machiavelli and theatre, and, last but not least, Machiavelli's understanding of the phenomenology of the political sphere. This production is a watershed event for the English-speaking world".
References
Plays by Niccolò Machiavelli
Comedy plays
1510s plays
1520s plays
Debut plays
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