A traveling troupe of commedia dell’arte brings with them not only a play that is frighteningly true to life but also a host of secrets and jealousies. In Pagliacci - Clowns - composer Ruggero Leoncavallo created not the usual love triangle, but a love quadrangle, with three men - Canio, Tonio, and Silvio - all fighting for the love and attention of one woman, Nedda.

Using the classic ‘play within a play’ format, the real lives of the characters act as a mirror to their parts in the play, with tragic consequences. As the on-stage drama melds with real-life passions, the two stories explode in a finale of manipulation, jealousy, violence, and of course, death. This is commedia, after all.