''The Jester's Supper'' (Italian:''La cena delle beffe'') is a historical play by the Italian writer

Sem Benelli Sem Benelli (August 10, 1877 – December 18, 1949) was an Italian playwright, essayist and librettist. He provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's ''L'amore dei tre re'' and ''L'incantesimo'', and Umber ...

, which was first staged in 1909. In 1919 the play was put on in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, under the name ''The Jest'', at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre. It portrays a violent and cruel rivalry in the

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

Lorenzo the Magnificent Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

Adaptations

Opera

The play was the basis for an opera '' La cena delle beffe'' composed by

Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Mari ...

with a libretto written by Benelli himself. It premiered at La Scala on 20 December 1924.

Film

In 1942 the play was adapted as a film, '' The Jester's Supper'', directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

and

Osvaldo Valenti Osvaldo Valenti (17 February 1906 – 30 April 1945) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1928 and 1945. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey to a Sicilian carpet trader and a wealthy Lebanese woman of Greek descen ...

.Gundle p.192 It was made at

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The film was a popular success.

References

Bibliography

*Gundle, Stephen. ''Mussolini's Dream Factory: Film Stardom in Fascist Italy''. Berghahn Books, 2013. * Sassoon, Donald. ''Culture of the Europeans: From 1800 to the Present''. Harper Press, 2006. 1909 plays Italian plays adapted into films Plays set in Italy Plays set in the 15th century Plays by Sem Benelli Plays adapted into operas {{1900s-play-stub