La moglie ingenua e il marito malato (2009)
Directed by Bruno Napolitano
Cast
Prof Silvio Rune – il marito malato……….Gianpaolo Casali
Luisa – portinaia……….Lina Del Borrello
Pasquale – marito di Luisa……….Nick Cappa
Conte Angiò – inquilino del piano di sopra……….Rino Pellone
Barone Invitti – inquilino del piano di sotto……….Aldo Santalucia
Signora Iolanda – madre di Adele……….Maria Conte
Ottavio Rune – fratello di Silvio……….Luciano Pinto
Olga – moglie di Ottavio………Maria Sannino
Adele Rune – la moglie ingenua……….Federica dei Giudici
Porzio – avvocato di Rune……….John Conte
Dottor Rossi – medico di Rune……….Pierpaolo Tamburini
Infermiera – al servizio di Rossi……….Nicoletta Ciampini
Giornalaio……….Bruno Napolitano
“Isabella Molli” – investigatrice……….Rocco Loiacono
Professor De Robertis – chirurgo……….Tony Rapanaro
Sposa……….Christina dei Giudici
Famous as a fine narrator and humorist, Campanile was also naturally talented as a writer for the theatre, endowed as he was with a quick turn-of-phrase and an abundant gusto for repartee, which flowed so easily from his pen. He was an expert at making the absurd sound feasible as well as delightfully entertaining; his play on words, puns, short one-liners and suggestive allusions adding a new dimension to the Italian language proving it could be as inventive and multi layered in texture and meaning as English.
Adapted from one of his numerous novels, La moglie ingenua e il marito malato (A naive wife and her sick husband), the main subject revolves around the age-old problem of love and marital fidelity. The turn-up in this event is caused by a most unusual medical case: the appearance overnight of a pair of “horns” on the forehead of an unsuspecting husband. The personal trauma caused by such an event to the unfortunate husband, Professor Rune, who lectures on love and marital fidelity almost pales into insignificance compared with the social stigma connected with “horns” on husbands’ heads. What to do, then? Are these “horns” purely the consequence of a medical condition or are they connected in some mysterious way to the activities indulged by the Professor’s wife, who has been holidaying on her own at their seaside villa? Does the Professor need to take care of his real “horns” or does he need to consider whether he has indeed joined the eternal queue of cuckolded husbands? And what does his wife have to say about the matter? Admittedly, an embarrassing and potentially damaging situation has arisen and dealing with it will provide a theatre audience with loads of laughter and some cause for reflection.