''Andria'' is the first play written by

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

, 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 Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, who had originally taken it from the Greek dramatist Menander. It is one of the examples of Machiavelli as a comedy writer, along with ''

The Mandrake ''The Mandrake'' (Italian: ''La Mandragola'' ) is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Although the five-act comedy was published in 1524 and first performed in the carnival season of 1526, Machiavelli likel ...

'' and the ''

Clizia ''Clizia'' is a comedy by the Italian Renaissance political scientist and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, written in 1525. The work is based upon a classical play by Plautus, called ''Casina Casina ( egl, label= Montanaro, Caṡîna ; egl, lab ...

''. 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 ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the 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 ...

. 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 research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

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 16th-century debut plays {{16thC-play-stub