The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento

by Ian Thal

The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento features the commedia dell'arte's notoriously handsome adventurer, Capitano Spavento, as he exposes a villainous cabal of plagiarists and liars, including Homer, Shahrazad, Sindbad the Sailor, Ajib bin Khazib the One-Eyed Qalandar and the Venetian, Marco Polo – all of whom have either claimed his adventures for themselves or...

The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento features the commedia dell'arte's notoriously handsome adventurer, Capitano Spavento, as he exposes a villainous cabal of plagiarists and liars, including Homer, Shahrazad, Sindbad the Sailor, Ajib bin Khazib the One-Eyed Qalandar and the Venetian, Marco Polo – all of whom have either claimed his adventures for themselves or attributed them to others far less courageous! Tonight, the Capitano will tell the true story of his love and heroism to a blood-thirsty cyclops!

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The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento

Recommended by

  • Ricardo Soltero-Brown: The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento by Ian Thal
    “

    One need not be familiar with the work of Mel Gordon to enjoy this commedia dell'arte, yet scholars and general audiences alike will relish in this lazzi spettacolare with the same stupefying awe as one does when discovering the works of Dario Fo, Antonio Fava, even Jacques Lecoq. Francesco Andreini and Flavio Scala may be lost to the ages, but Ian Thal has resurrected Il Capitano to resplendent heights in this marvel of theatre that decides to leap bounds over Plautus and Terence with Spavento's braggadocio, incorporating characters as gargantuan and mythical as his narrative, highly suspect...

    One need not be familiar with the work of Mel Gordon to enjoy this commedia dell'arte, yet scholars and general audiences alike will relish in this lazzi spettacolare with the same stupefying awe as one does when discovering the works of Dario Fo, Antonio Fava, even Jacques Lecoq. Francesco Andreini and Flavio Scala may be lost to the ages, but Ian Thal has resurrected Il Capitano to resplendent heights in this marvel of theatre that decides to leap bounds over Plautus and Terence with Spavento's braggadocio, incorporating characters as gargantuan and mythical as his narrative, highly suspect, tales of bravado.

    read more
    ”
  • Stephen Kaplan: The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento by Ian Thal
    “

    Nothing beats a good story and this play has DOZENS of them! While there may not be 1,001 of them, Thal's play will leave you spellbound and feeling like a little kid during story time as you spend time with the larger-than-life Capitano and those he encounters (or says he encounters).

    Nothing beats a good story and this play has DOZENS of them! While there may not be 1,001 of them, Thal's play will leave you spellbound and feeling like a little kid during story time as you spend time with the larger-than-life Capitano and those he encounters (or says he encounters).

    ”
  • Cheryl Bear: The Tenth Voyage of Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento by Ian Thal
    “

    An adventure for the ages as we finally hear the true story from Captiano himself! Well done.

    An adventure for the ages as we finally hear the true story from Captiano himself! Well done.

    ”
View all 5 recommendations

Character Information

While an earlier draft was written as a full-length monologue, the current version can be performed by a cast of five with doubling. Narrative may also be accompanied by dumb-shows, puppets, cantastoriae, et cetera.
  • Capitano Giangurgolo Coccodrillo Fanfarone Matamoros Spavento
    The Capitano is based on the archetypical character from the commedia dell'arte. He defines himself by expressions of nationalistic machismo and a chauvinistic and bigoted contempt towards all others – women and Jews in particular – consequently, ironic casting is encouraged.

    A swaggering bullshit artist, he is so enchanted by whatever he is saying in the moment that he pays little mind as to whether it coheres with what was said just moments before or what he plans to say next. His greatest fear is someone might call him a liar, yet he imagines himself too clever to be caught. On those rare occasions when he realizes that he is straining credulity his anxiety is quickly assuaged by the next marvelous utterance that occurs to him — no matter how obviously he contradicts what was said before.
    Ageless
    Castillian,
    Spaniard
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary
  • Cyclops
    Either mythological one-eyed giant who appears in both Homer's Odyssey and the Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor whom Capitano Spavento mistakes for a rabbi, or perhaps a rabbi whom Spavento mistakes for the said mythological one-eyed giant. Spavento will attribute to the Cyclops many of the anti-Semitic libels that were in circulation in 16th century Christian Europe.

    He is however greater scholar than the author of this entertainment, and will flummox Spavento by subjecting the Capitano's narrative to textual analysis.
    Jewish
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Shahryar
    Legendary Shahanshah of the ancient and otherwise well-documented Sassanid Empire – also known as Ērānshahr, or “Empire of the Iranians”. One of the protagonists of the One-Thousand Nights and One Night. May he be immortal.

    Shahryar is a despotic mass murderer. He is a misogynist and if he were not fictitious, he would be insulted to discover he was being portrayed by a female, gender non-binary, or gender queer performer. By all means, insult his memory.


    The performer will be needed to double in other roles.
    Persian,
    Zoroastrian
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary
  • Shah Zaman
    The younger brother of Shahanshah Shahryar who rules Samarkand in his elder brother's name.


    Like his elder brother, Shah Zaman is a despotic mass murderer. He is a misogynist and if he were not fictitious, he would be insulted to discover he was being portrayed by a female, gender non-binary, or gender queer performer. By all means, insult his memory.

    The performer will be needed to double in other roles.
    Persian,
    Zoroastrian
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary
  • Shahrazad
    The one-thousand-and-third wife of Shahanshah Shahryar, stalling for time. Sometimes referred to in Western literature as Scherazade

    The performer will be needed to double in other roles.
    Persian,
    Zoroastrian
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary
  • Other Roles:
    The Ifrit's Concubine, Zubaydah, Sindbad, Sindbad's-Widow-To-Be, The Sailor, the Man from Cadiz, Ajib bin Khazib, and The Qalandar,
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+

Development History

  • Workshop, Chaos Theater Collective, 2022

Awards

  • Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy «Neem-2018», Long List
    Vibrating Body
    2018