The Jester's Supper (play)

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{{short description|1909 play}}

File:John & Lionel Barrymore in The Jest - Sep 1919 Shadowland.jpg and John Barrymore in the 1919 Broadway production of The Jest]]

The Jester's Supper (Italian:La cena delle beffe) is a historical play by the Italian writer Sem Benelli, which was first staged in 1909. The work is inspired by a short story from Antonio Francesco Grazzini's Le Cene (I, 3).

In 1910 Sara Bernhardt played in "La Beffa" (adapted by Jean Richepin) the role of Gianetto Malespini.

In 1919 the play was put on in New York City, under the name The Jest, adapted by Edward Sheldon, at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre. The play portrays a violent and cruel rivalry in the Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Sassoon p.738 This production starred John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. They added an element of surprise by exchanging the lead roles on certain nights without alerting the audience.