This is a three-act comedia, but it is written with a somewhat episodic structure, perhaps in part because it is a jibe against the dominant Lopean playwriting style. There is therefore an argument for playing it as a series of independent scenes rather than as a three-act play, which was the approach taken by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 2004-5.
The most important staging considerations are Pedro’s constant changes of costume. He appears dressed as various members of the social strata, including as a shepherd, a public servant assisting the mayor, a gypsy, a blind man, a hermit carrying heavy bags of sand (which he puts in the widow’s purse to replace the money he steals from her), a student in a cloak and cap, and finally an actor. He encounters members of these groups who are also described as dressed according to their station. There are two dancing sequences in the play that call for music: two male actors dress as women and perform a dance for the amusement of the King, and the gypsy women perform a dance for the King in which Belica purposefully falls upon him to attract his attention.
Entry written by Kathleen Jeffs. Last updated on 24 February 2011.