Classic comedy is adapted and directed by Roe Green Visiting Director Tracy Young

When Truffaldino (Wesley Simmons)
decides to double his income by serving
two masters, comedic chaos abounds.

(Photo credit: Joni Koneval)

Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance begins it 2015-2016 season with Carlo Goldoni’s classic comedy The Servant of Two Masters. The production is directed and adapted by this year’s Roe Green Visiting Director Tracy Young, and runs Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 18, in Wright-Curtis Theatre, located in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent.

For tickets, call 330-672-ARTS (2787), purchase online at www.kent.edu/theatredance or in person at the Performing Arts Box Office located in the Roe Green Center lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent. The box office is open Monday to Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for Kent State alumni, faculty and staff, $14 for seniors (60+) and $10 for non-Kent State students, age 18 and under. Tickets are free for full-time, Kent Campus undergraduate students. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $12 per person. Flex pass subscriptions also are available. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, check and cash.

Written by Goldoni and adapted by Oded Gross and Young, The Servant of Two Masters is a masterpiece of commedia dell’arte. The hilarious comedy demonstrates what happens when you combine a sister disguised as her brother, a fiancé returned from the dead, a lover accused of murder and an always-hungry servant who decides one master is not enough.

An accomplished director and adapter, Young, who directs The Servant of Two Masters, has credits at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Co., Playmakers Rep, Great Lakes Theater, Yale Rep, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Los Angeles Theatre Center and Lincoln Center Theater.

The production and design team includes choreography by Kent State Assistant Professor Courtney Brown, scenic design by Associate Professor Raynette Smith, technical direction by Associate Professor Steve Pauna, lighting design by Kent State graduate student Tom West, costume design by Associate Professor S.Q. Campbell, and sound design by Kent State theatre studies student Alex Toth. Abbey Matye, Kent State theatre studies student, serves as production stage manager.

Now in its 13th year, the Roe Green Visiting Director Series was established following a donation from local arts patron and activist Roe Green. Through this generous gift, the School of Theatre and Dance invites a guest professional director each year to work in residency with students and direct one of the school's main stage productions. Previous guest directors include Tony Award winner Michael Rupert, Victoria Bussert, Vincent Dowling and Sue Ott Rowlands.