Review: "The Great Magic" Casts an Entrancing Spell
The Great Magic (La grande magia)
Adapted from Eduardo De Filippo by Rosario Sparno
Directed by Rosario Sparno
Presented by Casa del Contemporaneo at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU, Manhattan, NYC on May 2, 2024 at 7 pm and Culture Lab LIC, Queens, NYC on May 4, 2024 at 7:30 pm
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Photo by Luigi Maffettone |
In an attempt to deal with the problem of Di Spelta, Marvuglia hits upon the fairy-tale-esque solution of giving him a box (with a symbolically mirrored lid) that Marvuglia tells the highly jealous, possessive husband will restore his wife to him when he opens it if he has true trust and faith in her; otherwise, to open the box will be to lose her forever. As part of convincing Di Spelta to accept this idea, Marvuglia also pushes him onto a path of radical philosophical solipsism, working to persuade him that his perceptions create the world around him. (We might read the games of solitaire that both Zaira and Di Spelta play as a prefiguring symbol of this solipsism, much as Marvuglia's plans to use recorded applause in his act reflect the creation of his own, illusive reality.) As the remainder of the play unfolds, we see that Marvuglia is all too successful, but also that he is successful only to the degree that Di Spelta uses these ideas in order to avoid responsibility for himself and his actions (at one point, Marvuglia gives Di Spelta a clear out and an indication that his wife's absence is not in fact magical that Di Spelta cannot bring himself to take). This avoidance, though, can become its own trap - once one embraces the idea that reality is unreal, or even just lives as if one believes it, can one ever be sure again of anything not being an illusion? Sparno's performance renders Di Spelta's journey hilarious and tragic, and Iervolino and the fantastic Romano create a great dynamic as the often-quarreling Marvuglia and Zaira. If getting lost in the play's layers of illusion is not the best outcome for Di Spelta, this production of The Great Magic makes it great fun for the audience.
-John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards
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