Wonderland Theatre ©2003-2009
Wonderland Productions in association with The Port House proudly presents
La Locandiera (or Mirandolina, the Hostess at the Inn) La Locandiera – Mirandolina
by Journalist Vanessa Moore

Behind the Scenes with the Cast and Crew
March 2009

La Locandiera is a play of banter, wit and emotional undercurrents. Claire Jenkins and Connolly Heron play the two protagonists, Mirandolina and the Ulster Gentleman. Playing these characters demands effort, emotion and a varied approach, as Claire explains: “Mirandolina is a very multi-dimensional character, and a joy to play – there are so many ways to approach her, so many ways to portray her.” Her determination to make the Ulster Gentleman fall in love with her is partly on behalf of womankind, but “mainly on a personal level – Mirandolina is spoilt and likes to play games. Her attraction comes from her confidence.”

The Ulster Gentleman’s disdain for women is also a challenge for Connolly – his character simultaneously hates all women at the same time as he is being swept away by Mirandolina’s charm. Having previously worked with Alice Coghlan on The Miser, Connolly is familiar with site-specific theatre and hopes that the characters will establish a rapport with the audience: “I hope people will feel relaxed, interact, participate and even sing along if they like!”

Meanwhile the Conte of the Flowering Dawn and His Grace the Marchese, played by Mal Whyte and Neill Fleming are jostling for Mirandolina’s attention, affection and benevolence. Mal describes the Conte as “flowery, outrageous, bombastic, hypocritical and testosterone-filled.” He has brought his title, and showers Mirandolina with diamonds, much to the chagrin of the Marchese.

The Marchese is a “pathetic character, willfully blind to reality”, Neill explains; he is a nobleman who has lost all his money, and cannot compete with the Conte’s gift buying. The Marchese is a character that “will make people laugh, but for him it is very serious” – he is very earnest and cannot understand why someone of a much lower class, like Mirandolina is, doesn’t accept his advances.

The final member of the cast Damien O’Donnell is The Manservant to the Gentleman and Fabrizio, the Head Waiter who is in love with Mirandolina. The Manservant is faithful and follows the Gentleman and obeys his every order and makes sure all his wishes are obeyed yet he is too eager to please. As Damien says, “he messes things up and ends up getting very flustered”.

Fabrizio is a very different character, who knows Mirandolina well and reminds her that before her father died, he told them they should marry. Mirandolina is enjoying all the attention she’s getting – so she’s no interest in getting married, but as Damien explains, Fabrizio bides his time.

“He is a very serious character. He will climb the social latter if he marries Mirandolina, but it’s not only about that - he really loves her.” Damien has always been interested in acting, and trained in the Gaiety School of Acting. Originally from Mayo, he puts his musical talent to use in the play, where he is the lead guitarist.

The cast that have created La Locandiera are all passionate about, in director/translator Alice Coghlan’s words, “making a great Italian classic accessible to an Irish audience.” Aside from her work with Wonderland, Alice has studied Italian language, literature and opera directing in Italy, as well as being a Staff Director for opera companies in Ireland, the UK, and Europe, most recently assisting at the Royal Opera House in London.

As for La Locandiera, Alice says that it is a privilege to work on such a wonderful play. Live music she says, is key to Wonderland shows, and in this production it makes the Inn into an open, happy place and invites the audience into the Italian world of the piece. Above all she says “We want to entertain people with this great classic, we want our audiences to feel that they’ve stepped two hundred and fifty years in time, and into the heady, testosterone fuelled world of Mirandolina’s inn for the night.”

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A Preview of Wonderland’s La Locandiera


Production Details     Production Reviews
Credits
From Wonderland Productions Ltd.
Starring: Neill Fleming, Connolly Heron, Claire Jenkins, Damien O’Donnell, Martin Philips, Robert Harrington and Roseanne Lynch

Translation & Direction: Alice Coghlan
Costume Design: Tara Jones Hamilton
Music Director: Sam Kavanagh
Tour Producer: Sara Cregan
Port House Producer: Nina Antonioli
Dramaturgy: Irene Dei
Assistant Director: Amy Fox
Stage Management: James Fanning
Company Administration: Grainne Lynch
Wigs: Patricia McDevitt
Photography: Steve Wilson