Did you know that 2011 is the 250th anniversary of Carlo Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges?

I’ve had “2011 is the year of the orange!” written on the dry erase board above my desk for 2 years now so I wouldn’t forget that 2011 marks the 250th anniversary of Carlo Gozzi‘s The Love of Three Oranges, the commedia dell’arte scenerio that both the Sergei Prokofiev opera (usually translated as The Love for Three Oranges) and my play are based on. Originally written in 1761 (which was also the year that Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was published if Wikipedia is to be believed), I love the fact that, two and a half centuries later, people are still enjoying Gozzi’s story.

And my version? While it was first published in 2002, I actually wrote it in the summer and fall of 2001 meaning it’s having its 10 year anniversary this year as well!

One of my biggest concerns when I signed with Playscripts, Inc was that I knew how slow the publishing process could be and I didn’t want there to be a long lapse in availability of the play. There are productions going on all the time and I didn’t want groups interested in doing the play to be unable to get copies of the play if they wanted it. But, on top of this, I also had big plans for the anniverary of the play this year and I would have hated for my version to have to sit this entire historical year out because of the delays of the publishing industry. But, when I explained this, Playscripts went above and beyond and got the book print ready in absolutely record time. It also completely thrills me that, with the release of the new edition, everything old is new again and we have the opportunity to celebrate this story in a way that merges past and present.

On  personal note, 10 years ago, I identified with Carlo Gozzi and his original project on a very deep level. Sure, I was a female college kid with a major in theatre and a passion for e-commerce and he was an Italian playwright and misogynist and on paper we had absolutely nothing in common. But the more I researched the circumstances that lead to the creation of Three Oranges, the more I realized that we were in very similar situations though separated by centuries. Over the course of the year that I wrote and directed the show, I gained a deeper appreciation for the theatrical heritage it represented and felt this a strong connection to the work and its mythos.

Throughout this historical year, I’ll be taking a look back both at the writing and production process behind my version of Three Oranges but also Gozzi’s journey 250 years ago and how they parallel each other in ways that sometimes feel as magical as a fairy tale itself.

But for today, let’s just take this opportunity to wish Carlo Gozzi and his oranges a happy birth-year! 🙂