In early 1900s Florence, Anita and Ida, the two daughters of Ulisse and Rosa, attract the attention of two very different young men: Cecco, the carpenter, and the mysterious Alfredo. While the parents try to keep the girls under control, secret courtships and jealousy spark a series of comic situations. Between serenades under the window, domestic mishaps, and misunderstandings, true love ultimately triumphs over everything.

STORY

L’Acqua Cheta is considered the masterpiece of Augusto Novelli and of Florentine vernacular theatre. It was first staged at the Teatro Alfieri in Florence in January 1908 and was performed for 26 consecutive nights, marking the rebirth of Florentine dialect theatre, which until then had smoldered like “fire under the ashes.” In 2008, the centenary of its debut was celebrated.

L’Acqua Cheta has now surpassed one hundred years of history. On New Year’s Eve of 1908 at Teatro Alfieri, a banquet was held in honor of the great actor Andrea (Dreino) Niccòli, who was preparing to leave for America with his troupe for a tour. Playwright Augusto Novelli, who happened to be passing by, was invited onstage to speak, and he persuaded the actor to try his luck with a new theatrical project: a comedy that would bring popular vernacular theatre to America. He committed to writing the first act before the troupe’s departure. The three-act comedy premiered on January 29 under the title “L’Acqua Cheta”, and it was an overwhelming success.

Since then, the play has had countless productions—both as a spoken play and as an operetta (the musical adaptation by Giuseppe Pietri dates to 1920). Throughout its stage history, it has undergone an evolution that has significantly altered its form, language, and even the hierarchy of characters.

In keeping with Novelli’s intention to create a piece of popular theatre, audiences and theatre companies who have staged it over the years have made it their own—modifying text, scenes, and characters with cuts and additions born from actor improvisation and audience response, treating it as a true product of oral culture. In today’s theatrical practice, there is no single Acqua Cheta but many different ones. And as with every form of popular culture, we find on one hand a multitude of variations, and on the other a set of performance traditions—so beloved and familiar to audiences that altering them can be risky.

Considering all this, this seemingly light comedy appears charged with many meanings, but above all, with one in particular: it represents, for Florentines (and perhaps not only for them), that image of Florence as it once was—the Florence they knew or heard about, the Florence that existed “before.” Before the tourists, before the flood, before the Great War… in any case, before some disaster that changed its face.

Direction: Claudio Spaggiari

Costumes: Giancarlo Mancini

Characters and Cast

Ulisse, coachman – Fabio Baronti
Rosa, his wife – Sabrina Tinalli
Anita, their daughter – Sofia Giunta
Ida, their daughter – Marta Virginia Morgavi
Cecco, carpenter – Lorenzo Carcasci
Alfredo – Ruggero Albisani
Stinchi, stableman – Andrea Nannelli
Asdrubale, lawyer – Davide Diamanti
Bigatti, journalist – Marcello Allegrini
Zaira – Brenda Potenza
Anna – Giovanna Calamai
Teresa – Anna Collazzo