From the Mailbag: What’s the relationship between King Silvio and Pantalone in The Love of Three Oranges?

Hello, I am directing your wonderful play, The Love of Three Oranges. We have just begun rehearsals and are enjoying the process greatly. I want to ask you about the relationship between Pantalone and the King. What character in our world would you liken Pantalone too? How would you describe their relationship? Thank you very much.

I’m not hip enough to give you a reference that your students would relate to. The most modern thing I can think of is The Simpsons’ Smithers and Mr. Burns without the romantic obsession (although I guess you could play it that way) and I don’t know if teens today even have that show on their radar. 

Pantalone is always saving the King from himself. He’s been in that position for a long time and the kingdom would probably have fallen apart a long time ago if he hadn’t been directing things behind the scenes to the extent that he has. He’s very loyal to the Hearts family and genuinely cares about them even if they, especially the King, drive him nuts most of the time. His relationship is familiar enough that he sometimes forgets his place and considers himself part of the royalty family and as more than an adviser. I have the head canon that Pantalone was in love with the late Queen which is part of why he is so protective of her husband, son and kingdom.

The King is arrogant to the point that it’s made him oblivious. He’s so convinced of his own greatness that he doesn’t even realize how much Pantalone is doing and how often he’s saving him from scandal and ruin. He completely takes Pantalone for granted but if he were to disappear tomorrow, he’d miss him greatly. While he’d never admit it,Pantalone is the closest thing he has to a friend.

There’s a whole separate conversation we could have here about the different ways the two of them relate to the fourth wall but let’s not complicate things…