The Veteran (Parlamento De Ruzante) and Weasel (Bilora): Two One-Act Renaissance Plays

This is the first scholarly translation-study in English of the Parlamento de Ruzante (‘The Veteran’) and Bilora (‘Weasel’). These two one-act renaissance plays, set and performed around 1530 in Venice, are remarkable for their linguistic and gestural vitality, brutal humour, psychological penetration and controversial topicality. Written in rustic Paduan, Venetian and Bergamask, they are the central achievement of Angelo Beolco (Ruzante), who is increasingly recognized as the most significant playwright of the Italian Renaissance.