La moglie saggia

Theater nights at the Teatro Goldoni in Venice! Friday, February 14th, 2025, Saturday, February 15th, 2025, and Sunday, February 16th, 2025, the Teatro Stabile del Veneto presents the play La Moglie Saggia by Carlo Goldoni (adaptation and direction by Giorgio Sangati).

In 1752, Goldoni wrote one of his most unique works: the impulsive Count Ottavio, driven by a newfound passion for the equally hot-tempered Marchesa Beatrice, wants to rid himself of his wife Rosaura, the daughter of merchant Pantalone, who had “sold” her to him. However, Rosaura will not give up easily. To survive, she turns to theater as her weapon. It’s no coincidence that the author portrays her with a book in hand: it is her knowledge, more than love, that will save her (the first printed version was titled *The Loving Wife*). Over the course of the play, Rosaura becomes an actress, playwright, and even director, unleashing the cathartic power of fiction to expose the corruption of an aristocracy that has already decayed both economically and morally. Her triumph, however, comes at a cost: while reason helps her prevail over everyone, it also imprisons her emotions and herself. With this fully bourgeois anti-*Locandiera* (composed in the same year), we witness a significant step toward modern drama and its inner complexities. This is a Goldoni work with a darker tone—more Nordic than Mediterranean—a psychological thriller that foreshadows Ibsen and keeps the audience on edge. At the same time, it is a choral work that portrays a violent and individualistic world (starting with false friends Lelio and Florindo), masterfully blending tragedy and comedy. The main plot is intertwined with the lighter story of the servants: the indispensable Arlecchino (here decidedly out of place) and the aspiring bourgeois couple Corallina-Brighella, who, unlike their masters—on whom they have become “dependent”—share a much more egalitarian relationship.