"The Servant of Two Masters": Actors with physical hyperbole

The Servant of Two Masters (1746) by Carlo Goldoni is an enduring theater favorite, but I doubt many revivals stand up to the energetic panache of the show now running at Hedgerow Theatre.

Jared Reed excels as the servant Truffaldino, who latches on to two masters, then spends the night fighting to keep them separate. Truffaldino expands in stature, but in the early going has only the modest ambition of getting one good meal out of the deal.

Servant is commedia dell'arte, and all the usual elements are there -- wily menials, venial old men, frustrated young lovers, cross-dressing, mistaken identities, props with almost magical power, purloined letters, physical humor, and lots of wordplay.

Director Aaron Cromie reinvents the genre with his own mix of old and new elements. He keeps the play set in 18th-century Venice with striking and colorful period dress (costumes by Kayla Speedy) and theatrical masks in the old commedia tradition. He spices up his brew with some modern slang, topical references, and direct audience address, but never grows irksome by trying to be too clever.

Most striking of all is the glorious physical hyperbole of his cast. Every actor - no exceptions - brings a signature strut, carriage, flounce, and stance to his role that conveys more meaning than anything the character actually says or does. It is almost like watching a comic ballet.

Rounding out the cast are Zoran Kovcic and Josh Portera as the crotchety fathers, Pantalone and Dr. Lombardi; Allison Bloechl and Brock D. Vickers as estranged lovers Beatrice and Florindo; Madalyn St. John and Mark Swift as lovers Clarice and Silvio; Susan Wefel as innkeeper Brighella; Sarah Knittel as Smeraldina, a saucy young servant; and Shaun Yates, a burdened waiter and porter.

Though we now see Servant as vintage commedia, in his day, Goldoni was concerned the genre had grown stale. From Roman playwright Plautus to the American sitcom, the perennial issue with "low comedy" is how to keep it feeling spontaneous.

No problem here. It is as though life itself is on parade. The longer Servant runs, the more adorable these people become. And I understood the standing ovation the show received on opening night to be a disguised lament that we will never get to see them again.

Servant of Two Masters

Through June 26 at Hedgerow Theatre, 64 Rose Valley Rd., Rose Valley.

Tickets: $20-$34. Information: 610-565-4211 or www.hedgerowtheatre.org.