Eighteenth-century playwright Carlo Goldino's play, "The Servant of Two Masters" - featuring 17 Rider University student actors -- will be performed as the premiere for Rider's new Fine Arts Studio Theater.

The curtain rises in the theater, located in the Fine Arts Building on the Lawrenceville campus, Thursday, February 16 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 18 at 2 and 8 p.m.; Thursday, February 23 at 8 p.m.; Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, February 25 at 2 and 8 p.m. A special performance will take place Tuesday, February 21 at 8 p.m. at the Westminster Playhouse.

Set in 18th-century Venice, the play is performed in a genre known as "Commedia dell'arte," which literally means the "art of comedy" or "the craft of comedy" in its true translation. The antics between the sexes unfold over a wedding contract. Federigo, the male fiancé, is believed to be dead after a duel with Florindo, his sister's lover. The fiancé, Clarice, has been promised to another man. The battle erupts and confusion abounds in this comedy of disguise, deception, love and lust in Venice.

Logging in approximately 300 hours of rehearsal time, Rider's student-actors studied with noted commedia expert, Aaron Cromie, who has studied under Antonio Fava, the world's foremost commedia teacher. Cromie, a professional actor from Philadelphia, also trains actors in the commedia style across the United States.

"This production has never been performed at Rider and it is the first time that our theater students have attempted this particular genre," said Miriam Mills, adjunct assistant professor of fine arts and the production's director. "All of the commedia actors in this production - with the exception of the lovers -- wear masks. Their movements on stage present a different form of physical reality. Holding their chests upward, their poses and postures are not in the normal manner one would expect. I was looking for actors who are creative, quick and funny. They had to have the ability to capture physical truths in the style of movement connected with their masks, and make that movement believable."

The actors also improvise some of their dialogue in keeping with the commedia style. According to Mills, acting troupes during that time used a basic plot for a script and improvised based on the scenario given.

The play, translated by Jeffrey Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi, lends itself to improvisation. "It is interesting to see what made people laugh 300 years ago," said Mills. "I think what they found humorous long ago is exactly the same as what we find funny today. We all laugh at being a bit naughty. We laugh at windbags and braggarts, and we laugh at slapstick."

"No one should be intimidated by the play's supposed complications. Everyone will 'get it'. The show is hysterically funny. I know that the audience will have an entertaining, laugh-filled evening. We have some tremendous talent."

Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students, faculty and staff. For more information, call (609) 896-5303.