Transcript Commedia dell`Arte

Italian Theatre to 1700
(Commedia dell’Arte)
– The development of a public, professional theatre in Italy
came primarily from the traditions of commedia dell’arte.
– Commedia dell’arte = “comedy of professional players”
– Commedia all’improviso` = “improvised comedy”
– Commedia a soggetto = comedy developed from a plot,
theme, or subject
– Commedia erudita = learned comedy; comedy of the court
and academies, which always used scripts of a certain type
– Historians don’t know when exactly commedia dell’arte
began, but the first clear reference to a performance
comes from 1568.
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– Before 1600 it had spread throughout Europe and was a
typical and popular form of theatre into the 18th century.
Peeter van Bredael, Commedia dell'arte Scene in
an Italian Landscape
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27arte
Italian Theatre to 1700
(Commedia dell’Arte)
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The two fundamental characteristics of commedia dell’arte were
improvisation and stock characters.
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Actors worked from a plot outline, from which they improvised dialogue and
action.
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Each performer always played the same character with its fixed attributes and
costume.
Some factors limited improvisation:
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Each actor usually played the same character throughout his career, which led
to repetition of lines or stage business
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Comic bits (lazzi, singular lazzo) were standardized to be organized into
categories
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Rhymed couplets were used to close scenes and were probably memorized.
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Actors playing the young lovers (2nd actor & actress) were encouraged to keep
notebooks of poetry & literature
However, no actor could ever be certain what another actor would do
next, and so they had to concentrate on the moment at hand
(improvise).
Though troupes traveled and had their own ideas,
many similarities between characters and stage
business can be found.
Image:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Jan_Miel_%E2%80%93_Actors_from_the_Com
media_dell%E2%80%99Arte_on_a_Wagon_in_a_Town_Square.jpg
Italian Theatre to 1700
(Commedia dell’Arte)
– Scenarios were refined over a period of time and passed
down from one troupe to another.
– Over 1000 scenarios have been preserved
– The oldest 50 were published by Flaminio Scala in 1611.
– Most scripts were comic, though a few dramas and
melodramas exist.
– Every troupe had their own stock characters unique from
those in other troupes.
– However, certain character types were repeated among
troupes.
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A modern publication of Flaminio Scala’s
commedia scenarios.
Image: Amazon.com
Italian Theatre to 1700
(Commedia dell’Arte)
– Characters were separated into masked & unmasked.
– Unmasked were usually the young lovers, the innamorato (m)
and innamorata (f).
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The innamorato was often opposed in love affairs by an older man,
sometimes even his father.
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The innamorata could be courted by both young and old men.
– These served as a norm against which all other characters could
be compared.
– They were depicted as witty, handsome, well-educated, and
sometimes naïve.
– Their costumes were fashionable garments of the day.
– Nearly every troupe had two pairs and emphasized their
differences.
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Illustrations of the innamorati.
Image: http://www.clownlink.com/2011/02/commedia-characters-the-innamorati/
Italian Theatre to 1700
(Commedia dell’Arte)
– Masked characters are divided into masters & servants.
– Of the masters, the most common were Capitano, Pantalone,
and Dottore.
– The servants were the most varied of all commedia dell’arte
characters.
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As a group they are called zanni.
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Most scripts required at least two of these characters, one clever
and the other stupid, but the number could vary from 1 to 4.
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They typically featured prominently in intrigues.
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Their actions kept the plots moving as they sought to help or twart
their masters.
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Typically they were male, but there were occasionally fantesca
who served the innamorata, hostesses of an inn, wives of servants,
or objects of an old man’s affection.
Which characters can you recognize in these
illustrations?
Image: https://www.pinterest.com/esadgalicia/commedia-dellarte/