A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Paganini

Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy  /  5w, 7m

This wildly funny, demonic epic farce traces the bizarre career of virtuoso violinist Nicolo Paganini, a man so possessed during his performances that it was rumored he had sold his soul to the devil. Using Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin as a haunting background, this nightmare play gallops through grotesque adventures as Paganini plays to spellbound audiences
throughout Europe, the century's equivalent to a rock star.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary
This wildly funny, demonic epic farce traces the bizarre career of virtuoso violinist Nicolo Paganini, a man so possessed during his performances that it was rumored he had sold his soul to the devil. Using Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin as a haunting background, this nightmare play gallops through grotesque adventures as Paganini plays to spellbound audiences throughout Europe, the century's equivalent to a rock star. He leaves a trail of seduced women, enraged fathers and creditors and reportedly evades responsibility for a murder. A clockworks girl, a horrifying jack in the box, a trumpet blowing gorilla, a cymbals-banging bear, a barbershop quartet of murderous doctors, dead bird soup, Beethoven's ghost, an earsplitting diva, the king of France and other delights and horrors are encountered as Paganini moves toward his terrible destination. This inventive play employs vivid theatrical conventions to tell the surreal story of a dark and twisted journey while probing the consequences of art and the nature of salvation for the artist.
PAGANINI/ACHILLE
VIOLIN MERCHANT/SOLDIER/ANGEVMONK
CLOCKMAKER/RAPPACCINI/PAPA/BEETHOVEN
JACK-IN-THE-BOX/MAN IN THE IRON MASK/UGO/ DR. POLEMUS
BEAR/PANTALEONE/DR. PESTILENZA/WATSON
GORILLA/MURDERER/BOSCO/DR. HUNGERSNOT
CLOCKWORKS VIOLIN PLAYER/DEFLORES/METTERNICH/ DR. MORIBUNDI
APPLE WIFE/GUSSIE/MRS. TESTA/MAMA/MISS WELLS
BIRDY/SERVING GIRVMARINA
VIOLA/ CLOCKWORKS GIRL/ YOUNG COUNTESS/CHARLOTTE
ANGELINA
SIBYL/ ISABELLA/ ANTONIA
  • Time Period 18th Century
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Physical Comedy
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

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Authors

Don Nigro

Don Nigro is among the most frequently published and widely produced playwrights in the world and has continued to build a deeply interrelated and diverse body of dramatic literature, employing a wide variety of dramatic conventions and styles of presentation. He has written ...

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