Details

What: Acme Theatre Company’s “The Servant of Two Masters”

When: 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday (gates open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking); bring blankets, lawn chairs and jackets

Where: Davis Art Center outdoor stage, 1919 F St.

Admission: Free, but donations are accepted with gratitude as cast members pass the hat at intermission

Info: (530) 219-3498 or http://acmetheatre.net

Fashions come and go, to say nothing of political leaders, and the gadgetry that each generation regards (oh so seriously) as state-of-the-art technology.

But human nature is pretty constant … in every age, you’ll find ardent, impatient, youthful lovers, determined to outmaneuver interference from their absurdly stodgy fathers; and high-handed, sometimes inattentive bosses who get outwitted on occasion by their long-suffering, wily (and occasionally dishonest) employees.

Which is why a 250-year-old farce like “The Servant of Two Masters” — penned in the mid-1700s by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni — still makes for a raucous evening of outdoor theater on a late spring evening.

In this case, the show comes dressed up with a circus motif by the young talent featured in the Acme Theatre Company, ranging from eighth-grade through 12th-grade students.

Goldoni’s original script was created, back in the day, using stock characters from the commedia dell’arte style, which produced some pretty timeless entertainment that still fuels laughter today.

It is completely unnecessary to know anything at all about commedia dell’arte in order to enjoy this Acme production — you can simply frolic in the silliness for its own sake. But attendees with a bit of curiosity may enjoy an awareness that most of the characters in this romp come from a long and honorable theatrical pedigree.

The central character is Truffaldino, whose diamond-patterned costume and nimble manner quickly identifies him as a Harlequin figure, and a zanni (an astute servant, also a trickster) if you’re steeped in theater history. And if you’re mercifully oblivious to such details — well, you can simply enjoy Leah Julian’s energetic performance in the role.

Truffaldino is always hungry (and Julian is constantly tasting anything edible she encounters along the way). Truffaldino also opportunistically takes on two masters, which naturally leads to Truffaldino confusing his two masters’ mail, money and more, as he tries to serve both the cross-dressing Beatrice (who’s garbed as a man, with a sword on her belt, impersonating her late brother) and Florindo (Clarice’s hearthrob, on the run from the law).

Margaret Starbuck plays Beatrice, Alex Clubb plays Florindo — they are, of course, seeking each other. But the play conveniently manages to keep Beatrice and Florindo oh-so-close-but-separated until we’re nearly at the end of the show, at which point they are reunited in a scene that is one of this production’s comic highlights.

There’s also rich, imperious and generally greedy father — Pantalone, played by tall Antonio Deloera-Brust, who’s dressed in a ringmaster’s outfit, to stress that he’s an authority figure. Pantalone shamelessly manipulates the marriage market, seeking to arrange the most lucrative match for his eligible and pretty (yet always whining) daughter Clarice (tall, shrill Roxanne McNally).

Clarice has set her heart set on a love match with the dashing-and-handsome but incredibly impulsive and self-centered Silvio (Matt Gibson, whose swishing sword brings down a few leaves from low-hanging boughs of trees  above the stage), and Clarice becomes livid when her father abruptly decides to marry her off to another suitor who has more money.

There’s also the businesslike Brighella, who runs a restaurant (Kashmir Kravitz, with a ladle or meat cleaver in hand to emphasize her kitchen work); the amorous servant Smeraldina, who’s looking for a romance (Amber Bianchi); the Latin-spouting windbag Dr. Lombardi (Dashiell Menard); and an ensemble of clowns (Anna Eckert-Kramer, Gigi Gilbert-Igelsrud, Alix Miller, Neal Rock, Emma Soberano).

Directors Emily Henderson and Maddy Ryen mix in plenty of physical comedy. Their interpretation also includes some “bad Shakespeare” quotations, among other embellishments. (“Servant of Two Masters” has become something of a fixture on the summer Shakespeare circuit; Ashland staged the play in 2009).

The set — colorful panels and an extended platform — is by Will Delacorte and others; the costumes by Alix Miller and others; the props (colorful boxes, and plates of food to tempt Truffaldino) are by Amber Bianci and others. Alina Lusebrink and others handle the sound (amplified for the outdoor setting); Alex May and others rigged the lights.

There are two remaining performances of Acme’s “The Servant of Two Masters,” on Sunday and Monday on the outdoor stage at the Davis Art Center, 1919 F St. in Davis. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., with the performance starting at 7 p.m. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and warm clothing (the outdoor air gets cool after sundown, and the show runs until about 9:45 p.m.) Admission is free; donations will be enthusiastically accepted by cast members, who pass the hat during intermission. For information about the production, call (530) 219-3498 or visit acmetheatre.net

Summer theater lovers, take note: Acme’s next show will be “The Secret in the Wings,” to be staged Aug. 5-7 and 12-14 at the Veterans’ Memorial Theater, 203 E. 14th St.

— Reach Jeff Hudson at [email protected] or (530) 747-8055.

ACME1W

Truffaldino (Leah Julian, center) is right in the midst of the circus that’s come to town (clockwise, from left, Alix Miller, Gigi Gilbert-Igelsrud, Neal Rock and Anna Eckert-Kramer) in Acme Theatre Company’s production of “The Servant of Two Masters.” Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

ACME2W

Truffaldino (Leah Julian, center) finds that serving both Florindo (Alex Clubb) and Beatrice (Margaret Starbuck) might in fact be too much to handle, in Acme Theatre Company’s production of “The Servant of Two Masters.” Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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