The Summer Holiday Fever

“The world is the book from which I have learned the most,” wrote Carlo Goldoni, one of the greatest masters of Italian drama. In his work, this world sparkles and surges with extraordinary force from people, their conversations and everyday situations. Creating simple, authentic, convincing and accessible stories, Goldoni depicts human relationships from within, unfolding them in all their shades and turning them into a metaphor for the world itself. In the 18th century, clouded by uncertain prospects for the future and permeated by inexplicable cruelty, there was a sense that Europe would soon experience a turning point that would permanently change the face of society. Goldoni is profoundly humane, able to surround people with love and warmth even as he fiercely criticises them. Through his work, the playwright transcended his time, grasping the condition of modern people and the concerns that trouble them. He highlighted the importance of women’s character as they questioned their deeply rooted traditional role in society. His mastery is revealed to superb effect in the monumental “The Holiday Trilogy”, comprising three plays: “The Summer Holiday Fever”, “The Summer Holiday Adventures” and “On Returning from the Summer Holiday”. This autumn, director Gabrielė Tuminaitė will present the trilogy’s first play, “The Summer Holiday Fever”, at Vilniaus mažasis teatras. Livorno. The characters are feverishly preparing to leave for summer holidays at country villas. At the forefront is Leonardo’s jealousy of his fiancée Giacinta, who is also being courted by the young Guglielmo. In their desperate haste, they disregard both financial and moral norms, consumed by vanity. They hope that by leaving for the villas, that magical “elsewhere”, they will fulfil themselves as people and the problems they are running away from will resolve themselves. But it soon becomes clear that the problem lies much deeper: in their complete inability to manage their lives, which are hurtling at full speed towards an abyss. As the characters lurch constantly between anxiety, jealousy, outbursts of anger and irritation, the pace of the play keeps accelerating and its intensity rises to madness. As if possessed by this mass evacuation, they abandon their own homes—their theatre—littered, ransacked and devastated, and rush elsewhere, somewhere “better”, hoping to become what they have been promised: more talented, more beautiful and more widely recognised.