Amphitryon

The Amphitryon, one of Plautus's most famous comedies, is on stage at the Teatro Ambra Jovinelli, directed by Emilio Solfrizzi.

Written by the Latin author Plautus, likely towards the end of the 3rd century BC, and presumably performed in 206 BC, the comedy in five acts and a prologue - originally titled Amphitruo - takes its title from one of its protagonists, the commander of the Theban army Amphitryon, who is returning home after a long military campaign with his servant Sosia. Jupiter, fascinated by Amphitryon's beautiful wife, Alcmene, decides to assume her appearance to seduce her. Meanwhile, the real Amphitryon, unaware, clashes with Sosia, and a series of misunderstandings, deceptions, comical situations, and plot twists unfold. All of these elements create hilarious situations in which the characters become confused about the true identity of the person before them, offering the audience a funny and lighthearted show.

Amphitruo is a typical example of what is known as a "comedy of errors", based on the confusion and mistaken identities of the characters, in this case between the human characters and the deities who have assumed their appearance. The work is also defined by its author himself in the prologue as a "tragicomedy", because comedies generally depicted events involving popular figures, not deities or mythical subjects, which tragedy instead dealt with.

With Emilio Soilfrizzi and with Giancarlo Ratti, Ivano Falco, Viviana Altieri, Cristiano Dessì, Beatrice Coppolino, and Rosario Coppolino.

Photo: official poster of the show