The Shaming Of The Rake: Being A Short But Most Delightful Commedia Dell Arte Play-..

Lord Digitos, a nobleman and legend in his own mind, is a skirt chaser whose faithful wife has decided she's had enough. His friend, Lord Avari, is a miser but inveterate gambler whose betting debts will bankrupt the household and gain him a beating or worse. His wife, too, has decided it is time he learned his lesson. The two ladies contrive to turn the tables and make the lords suffer so as to shame them into becoming better men. With the help of the kitchen maids, the guards and even Avari's valet, they put on a show of a manor house gone mad: The chaser of skirts is himself chased, the miser's gold is proven useless to save beloved lives, the faithful lady is wooed and fought for, then accused of witchcraft! Written in the language and style of the English-speaking Renaissance era, and meant to be performed in the Commedia style, this raucous and light-hearted tale of love and deception, loss and redemption is a play with a moral that does not preach. In the ancient tradition of comedy it holds up the worst in us for ridicule, and the best in us for applause. Craig Allen Heath writes and acts and enjoys the simple pleasure of telling a story, using whatever form best fits the moment. "All stories" he says, "are examinations of what it means to be a human being. I believe it is a brave and radical act to to explore that question."