Machiavelli

Today I ushered for Machiavelli at the ArcLight theater which is located in the basement of an old church on the Upper West Side. Right away, walking down the stairs to enter the theater the religious art and environment seemed to influence the play I was about to see. I try to always notice the theater that I'm in and remember and special features - this one was indeed a space in which to take notice.

As for the show, it's a comedy about Nicolo Machiavelli - the man we all think of mostly for penning those famous words - "the end justifies the means." The play's author, Richard Vetere tries to alter the audiences perception of Machiavelli as a cruel man - although this is not written as a historical account. In his play, which Vetere describes as a comedy (and moments are pretty comical), he focuses mostly on Machiaveli's family life - rather than political situation or writings. Through a series of unfoldings and the ruling of Florence by several different princes, we learn that Machiavelli is quick to change his political loyalties (as one Prince after the other dies) in order to spare his family and himself. His quick wit gets him out of many tough situations.

The actors did a nice job - especially Machiavelli (James Wetzel) and his wife, Marietta (Liza Vann) and the narration in rhyme delivered by Alfonso (Lex Woutas) to introduce the play, break for intermission and ultimately conclude the series of events was quite lovely - even though I read some reviews that said otherwise.

Well, this show again satisfied my thirst for a bit of history - no matter that some of the events were fabricated. It's always interesting to see what a writer's imagination can produce in terms of a historical figure - especially Machiavelli.