According to the Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has just established the main cast for their upcoming black comedy drama series, The Decameron. The show is set during fourteenth century Italy during one of the world’s most deadly and notorious epidemic: the Black Plague.
The Decameron comes from creator and showrunner Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters, American Princess) who will executive produce the show alongside Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black, Weeds), Blake McCormick (Mad Men, The Romanoffs), and Tara Herrmann (GLOW, Social Distance). Michael Uppendahl (The Walking Dead, American Horror Story) will direct four of the show’s inital eight episodes.
The series’ current cast includes the acting talents of Tony Hale (The Mysterious Benedict Society, Arrested Development), Zosia Mamet (The Flight Attendant, Girls), Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education, I Hate You), Amar Chadha-Patel (Willow, Doom: Annihilation), Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie, The Fear Index), Lou Gala (Maison de retraite, Pourquoi je vis), Karan Gill (Screw, Boogie Man), Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls, The Five), Douggie McMeekin (Chernobyl, The Crown), and Jessica Plummer (The Girl Before, How to Talk to Girls at Parties).
As written by the Hollywood Reporter, The Decameron borrows its title from a 14th century novel by author Giovanni Boccaccio and takes place in 1348. The series follows a group of nobles and their servants who are invited to leave Florence and wait out the deadly disease in a lavish countryside villa. However, tensions soon rise when social rules begin to fall by the wayside and before long, the wealthy and remote paradise turns into a battle ground in a horrifying fight for survival.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Netflix describes The Decameron as “a soapy period dramedy that aims to examine the timeless themes of class systems, power struggles and survival in a time of pandemic with a touch of levity.” Currently, Netflix has yet to announce an official release date for the series.