The Servant of Two Masters

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price

A classic Italian comedy that remains blisteringly hilarious and relevant, over two hundred and fifty years after it was written.

Disguising herself as her dead brother, Beatrice travels to Venice to find Florindo, the man responsible for his death. However, her servant, Truffaldino, enters into the pay of Florindo, and struggles to keep his two lives and masters separate.

Carlo Goldoni's play The Servant of Two Masters (Il servitore di due padroni) was written in the 1740s, though later revised by its author. It draws on the tradition of Italian commedia dell'arte.

This English version in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is translated by Stephen Mulrine.



Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) was a Venetian playwright and librettist who wrote some of Italy's most well renowned plays and operas. Throughout his life he developed a unique comedic style, combining commedia dell'arte with a more realistic look at an emerging middle class. Along with The Servant of Two Masters his most famous stage works include Mine Hostess, The Crafty Widow, The Antiquarian's Family and The Fan.