Mandragola

The young nobleman Callimaco loves Lucrezia, but the beauty is already married to the rich, elderly senator Nicia. He, on the other hand, has a very different problem: his marriage to his young wife is still childless, which not only makes him the laughing stock of the town, but also costs him quite a bit of money, as the government wants to tax childlessness heavily. Callimaco and his servant Siro devise an ingenious plan: disguised as a doctor, the cunning Casanova prescribes Lucrezia a potion made from the mandragola root, which is supposed to ensure a new generation. The miracle cure is not only safe, it is sure to kill: the first person to attend Lucrezia will draw all the poison of the mandragola and must die. Torn between the fear of seemingly certain death and the tax-saving desire to have children, Senator Nicia finally allows herself to be convinced of the necessity of the medicine. On one condition, however: A substitute must be found for the first night - whom Callimaco promptly conjures out of the transformation box.

Niccolò Macchiavelli, famous and infamous for his writings on state politics, not only created one of the most famous plays of the Renaissance with La Mandragola. Written in 1524, the cheeky, frivolous comedy revolving around human foibles and vanities is now considered one of the earliest independent comedies in European literature. Contrary to the hitherto prevailing notion of the antique theatrical ideal, the play sparkles with nuanced wordplay and, in the adaptation by writer and theatre critic Max Christian Feiler, rushes from one punchline to the next at an incredible pace.