The World's Most Famous Operas - The Strolling Players

Music by: Ruggero Leoncavallo (1848–1919)
Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani

An opera in two acts by Leoncavallo
First produced in Milan in 1892

The Characters:
- Canio
- Nedda, his wife
- Tonio
- Beppe
- Silvio, a villager
- Peasants and villagers
(The Strolling Players)

Time: about the year 1870
Place: Montalbo, in Italy

Act One

The scene: an open place near the village.

There is a grand vocal-musical prologue containing several of the songs that are heard in the course of this opera. In the midst of this prologue, all of a sudden, the curtain parts on a man in a clown's costume standing at the front of the stage; he bows before the audience, saying: "Ladies and gentlemen, forgive me if I have appeared alone... I am the Prologue!" Then he launches into song, trying to make the audience understand that if it is the custom for the prologue to assure the spectators that the play they are watching is woven of fancy, and that the persons playing its parts are only actors, in this case he wishes to inform the audience that the actors, too, are human beings moved by deep and genuine emotions... The clown goes on: "Our hearts are no different from yours; they beat with love, with joy, and with sorrow. Let us begin now... and let the curtain rise!"

The curtain rises, and we see the strolling players entering the stage... A traveling stage has been set up to the right of the main stage. The sound of a hoarse, discordant trumpet is heard, followed by the beating of a drum. A donkey appears, drawing a brightly colored cart in which sits Nedda, the leading actress of the troupe, while the hero, Canio, beats the great drum, announcing to the crowd that tonight's performance will begin at seven in the evening.

That day happens to be the Feast of the Ascension, and the villagers are decked out in their finest attire, in joyous commotion. But there is a sign that things are not well within the troupe of strolling players. The clown Tonio tries to help Nedda dismount from the cart, and Canio promptly deals him a blow on the ear. Canio is, in fact, Nedda's husband. One of the members of the troupe suggests that they go to one of the taverns, but Tonio declines, saying that he must look after the donkey. And when one of the villagers hints that Tonio may want to stay behind his companions in order to make love to Nedda, Canio gives him a black look, saying threateningly that though such a thing may happen on the stage, if it were to happen in real life the end of the story would differ greatly from its stage ending.

The church bells ring out, calling the worshippers to the festal Mass. The villagers sing the chorus of the bells as they saunter toward the church. The voices fade little by little, and Nedda remains alone, thinking of the fires of jealousy she has seen in the eyes of her husband Canio. But soon the beauty of that summer night and the twittering of the birds drive these black thoughts from her mind, and she lifts her eyes to the sky, singing a song that begins: "O happy birds, flying free."

And there, outside the traveling stage on which the troupe of strolling players is to give its play that night, the hunchbacked clown Tonio comes forward, trying to pour out his love to Nedda. She mocks him; but when he persists in his impudence, she sets his back afire with the whip, and he goes off muttering that he will take his revenge... And the opportunity for revenge comes sooner than expected.

There enters the place, by a secret passage, a handsome young man named Silvio, whom Nedda had met during the troupe's visits in the past. Love has bound their two hearts... After a long dialogue overflowing with burning emotion, Nedda agrees to flee with him that very night. Tonio spies on the two lovers for a few minutes, then hurries to the tavern to return in the company of the jealous husband. The two arrive at just the right moment and hear Nedda bidding Silvio farewell with these words: "Tonight, and forever..." — while the lover slips away without his identity being discovered. Jealousy runs away with Canio, and he demands to know the name of his rival; Nedda refuses to reveal it, and he threatens her with a dagger. But Beppe, one of the members of the troupe, saves her by appearing at that moment, having come to remind his master Canio that the performance must be given that night.

Canio remains alone and sings the song "Put on your costume and make up your face," alluding to the actor's being compelled to play his part in the play even though his heart be broken... He sobs bitterly, then enters the little theater, as the curtain falls.

Act Two

The scene: the same as in Act One.

It is night, and the villagers are gathered to watch the play... Beppe blows the little trumpet and Tonio beats the big drum, the two of them heightening the excitement of the occasion. The spectators are seated on low benches before the small traveling stage, some of them squatting on the bare ground... An air of expectancy and eagerness reigns over the place. Nedda passes among the spectators collecting the price of admission. And as she does so, Silvio reminds her of the appointment between them that night, and she answers that she will be at the appointed place.

A bell rings on the little stage, and Nedda, Beppe, and Tonio disappear behind the scenes. In but a moment the curtain rises on a play within a play. Here is Nedda, in the costume of Columbine, seated at a table awaiting the return of her husband Pagliaccio — whose part is played by her real husband, Canio. And while she waits, a young man outside sings her a sweet, tender serenade, telling her in it that Harlequin awaits her. No sooner does this serenade end than Tonio enters — who plays in the piece the part of the servant Taddeo — carrying a chicken he has bought from the market. He pours out his love to Nedda in the play as he used to do in reality, and she scoffs at him in the play as she scoffed at him in reality. She approaches the window and signals to someone outside, and Harlequin enters (who is in reality Beppe), kicks Taddeo, and drives him out. Thus the field is left clear for Columbine and Harlequin, who takes up a bottle of wine he has been carrying and sits down with Columbine at the table; they take their supper and drink. Harlequin hands Columbine a small flask containing a sleeping draught, for her to give her husband to drink so that she may have the chance to flee. But at that moment Taddeo rushes toward them, shouting that Pagliaccio is approaching the place. Harlequin flees through the window by which he entered, and Pagliaccio arrives at the very moment when the emotional words of farewell repeated by his wife are heard... the same words he had heard Nedda repeating to Silvio that afternoon... "Tonight, and forever!"

The resemblance between the play and reality falls with crushing weight upon poor Canio, who finds it hard to go on performing his part; yet he follows the lines of the play, accusing his wife of betrayal and demanding that she reveal the name of her lover — but Nedda denies everything.

But Canio can bear it no longer; he wipes off his makeup, casts aside the playing of his comic role, and cries: "I am a clown no longer!"... The audience, however, misunderstands what is meant, and applauds in admiration of this harmony of magnificent acting. Nedda tries to go on reciting the lines of her theatrical part, but Canio — whom despair has been overtaking little by little through his insistence on knowing the lover's name — draws a dagger (as he had done shortly before the performance of the play) and stabs his wife in the back.

Nedda, in the throes of death, cries out for help to Silvio, who springs up at once — and is met by the dagger of the betrayed husband.

Canio stands distraught and terrified before the horror of what he has done, and announces to the audience in a broken voice: "The play is ended." And the curtain falls to the strains of the orchestra playing the climax of his famous, plaintive song: "Laugh, clown, laugh!"