Summary
The DecameronSeason 1 consists of eight episodes and is currently available to stream on Netflix. Set in 1348, the dark comedy follows a group of nobles and servants who seek refuge in a grand villaduring the Black Death. However, given their different upbringings and opposing ideologies, it doesn’t take long for the characters to clash with one another during their stay.
Kathleen Jordan serves as the creator of the series, whileTony Haleplays the “eager-to-please” steward of the villa, Sirisco. Although the show takes place during a grim period of history, both Jordan and Hale believe it’s important to find light during dark times. They feel that enough years have passed since the Black Death to create ironic distance and hope thatThe Decameronwill help “take the air out of the balloon.”
The Decameron Season 2: Will It Happen? Everything We Know
Netflix’s cheeky dark comedy The Decameron spoofs class divisions in the 14th century, but will the apocryphal series return for a second season?
Screen Rantchats with Jordan and Hale about theinspiration behind the series, crafting a dark comedy around the bubonic plague, and Sirisco’s growth inThe Decameron.
Jordan Wrote The Decameron As A Way To Process The COVID-19 Pandemic
Screen Rant: Kathleen, I read your notes and saw that you actually had an interest in the bubonic plague when you were very young. How did the opportunity arise for you to take this period of history you knew so much about and create a Netflix series?
Kathleen Jordan: As tends to be true with writing things in Hollywood, you have to create your own opportunity. So the opportunity was me sitting in my house, having an existential crisis during the pandemic, eight months pregnant. I just wanted to write about what we were all going through and figure out a way to process it. The bubonic plague felt like far enough in the past that we could have a little bit of ironic distance from it and, perhaps, be able to laugh. It felt like a really good breeding ground for finding a way to process with an ensemble all the different things that we were trying to go through in 2020.
Tony, what drew you to the series and made you want to get involved?
Tony Hale: I kind of think back to that time, and I read the script, I talked to Kathleen, and this sounds very simple, but just having the arc that she told me Sirisco was going to be having in the series was a real, not just for an actor, great opportunity. But also, having played characters that are kind of stuck, Buster, or Gary from Veep, they just don’t really grow, which is kind of part of the comedy.
They just kind of stay in this emasculated space. So to have the opportunity to really almost build a spine and see strength he didn’t know he had and courage—that was just exciting for me. And also knowing that she was going to throw a lot of surprises in there. That’s always a fun playground for any actor. I’m game. Also, we were able to be in Rome for six months. You can’t beat that.
Hale Felt “Supported In The Chaos” While Filming The Decameron
I’ve always felt dark comedy can be a bit tricky, but super successful when done in the right way. Kathleen, what elements did you feel absolutely had to be present in order to tell this story about the Black Death and convince the audience to view it through a comedic lens?
Kathleen Jordan: It’s funny, because I know the show presents like a comedy, especially because we have such an incredible cast of comedic actors. I wasn’t ever intending to write, necessarily, a “capital C” comedy. I just wanted to speak about this time with a lot of stakes and urgency, and I guess my voice just kind of came through. I can’t help but be funny. [Laughs]
Tony Hale: It is in you.
Kathleen Jordan: It’s just in my bones. It wasn’t necessarily an aspiration as much as it was in the DNA of the way that I write. I can’t help but be funny, is my response to your question. But, really, I was trying to tell something epic.
Tony Hale: To add to that, knowing Kathleen, when heavy times come in life, especially for funny people, you naturally have to take the air out of the balloon. You’ve got to break the tension. I always appreciate those kinds of people where it’s like, life is so dark, sometimes, so heavy. It’s like, “Where’s the light? Where’s the laugh?” You gotta find it, and you always do.
Tony, your character ends up in this villa trying to make all the guests happy at once. Was it fun for you to play with such a chaotic situation as an actor?
Tony Hale: It was very fun. I have to admit, I always have a little bit of impostor syndrome going on anytime I enter a job, and I’m like, “Oh, crap, they’re gonna find out that I was not the right person,” but I think everybody kind of gets that. When I got there, just seeing all the pieces of the artistry of the hair and the wardrobe and the makeup and the production design, in addition to the writing, the cast, obviously, you just kind of felt supported in the chaos, and that’s when it becomes fun.
Sometimes, you don’t feel that support, and it’s like, “go,” and you’re like, “I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what direction and who’s gonna support me.” But we always felt supported, and that’s when it was like, “Okay, now it’s playtime. Now we can just play and have a good time.”
About The Decameron
You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.
Source:Screen Rant Plus
The Decameron
In 1348 Italy, a group of nobles and their servants seek refuge in a grand villa from the bubonic plague. As they attempt to wait out the pandemic, their interactions reveal class tensions and personal secrets. The show blends dark comedy with historical drama, examining survival and societal divides in a crisis.
