Transcript Document
Theatre History Commedia Dell’arte Commedia dell’arte In Italy during the 16th century, a new type of comedy drama was developing. It gained immense popularity and is still enjoyed today. Commedia dell’arte translates to comedy of professional players. There were many commedia dell’arte companies and they toured all over Europe and England. Commedia dell’arte featured a very unique style of drama, often performed by family groups of actors. Origins of Commedia dell’arte Commedia was derived from the classical Roman comedy farce and other Roman plays. It also relied on the skills of travelling players such as acrobatics and physical feats Commedia dell’arte was widely popular, fun and spontaneous Commedia Scenarios There were no long, printed commedia plays because it was improvised drama. Instead there were standard characters and brief scenarios. It was up to the actors to improvise, and make up the story and dialogue as they went along. The Stories Story lines usually involved: Loves Lies Deceit Disguises Betrayal Conflict Physical Theatre Because all performances were improvised there were an infinite number of interpretations of the chosen scenarios Great physical skill and skills in improvisation were required to create these enjoyable and very energetic performances. Women as well as men acted in these performances Performance Venues Until the 17th and 18th centuries commedia was not performed in purpose built theatres Plays were held in many different settings, mostly outdoors in streets and markets on makeshift stages, or even without a stage in just a cleared space. Characters of Commedia Often an actor would play a character for life, especially one of the old men characters Young actors tended to play the roles of The Lovers Commedia troupes were usually made up of family members This was actor based theatre so it required everyone to work together cooperatively Actors needed to know their characters extremely well so they could portray them in any improvised situation Commedia dell’arte consisted of a set of stock characters Masks and costumes were worn by the characters, except ‘The Lovers’ who were usually the centre of the performance The Stock Characters The Lovers Masters/Old Men Zanni (The Servants) The Lovers/Inamorati The scene usually revolved around the young lovers who were always attractive and young The audience was encouraged to be on their side in their fight against those who opposed their relationships These love affairs were often opposed by either fathers or servants The Masters/Old Men Usually doctors or lawyers Their role was to stop the lovers getting together Pantalone and Il Dottore were the most popular of these characters These characters were targets of satire Audiences were encouraged to laugh at them pretending to be so clever, but really they were pretty stupid Pantalone A wealthy merchant A miser with his money Fiery and impulsive Sneaky and hypocritical Tries to prevent his young daughter from marrying someone who is lower class His mask reflects his mean, angry and ugly character Pantalone – mask & costume Il Dottore The Doctor, but not necessarily a medical doctor, just a highly educated man Constantly bragging about his intelligence Showing off Lecturing the other characters and/or the audience His lecturing may be in gibberish and rarely makes sense His mask featured a heavy, serious face, sometimes made to look like he drinks too much Il Dottore – mask & costume Zanni (The Servants) Servants were constantly fighting with their masters, emphasising the difference in social classes These fights and misunderstanding were always comical Stories were usually seen through the eyes of the Zanni Unlike the Old Men, they were not made fun of or satirised Arlecchino One of the most famous zanni characters (Note the closeness of the words ‘zanni’ and ‘zany’.) He was dressed in bright patchwork clothes The origin of this character was probably that of the fool or jester of medieval times Arlecchino – mask & costume Arlecchino was often hungry He would get into hilarious messes that he had to try and get out of Acrobatics and physical feats were a very important feature of this character His character is open and optimistic His mask is open and mischievous Brighella Also a zanni/servant Very different to Arlecchino Untrusting Sneaky Cruel Starts fights and problems Brighella’s mask is rough and ugly Brighella – mask & costume Columbina The main female servant A friendly but firm character Columbina and Arlecchino were often lovers, though usually there were complications in their relationship Columbina - costume Females did not wear masks in commedia to make them more beautiful and keep audiences more interested Lazzi Lazzi were comic interludes or skits within the play Lazzi required great physical skills and flexibility Lazzi often involved set performances which were inserted into the improvised performance Lazzi could be used in a flat spot in the performance or to create a turning point in the storyline Set Speeches Some actors would learn long speeches which could be inserted into the improvised performance when appropriate; maybe a speech about love, hate, jealousy, marriage, etc. History Commedia Dell’arte reached its peak between 1575 and 1650 but it was still popular for a further 100 years before it began to lose favour Many of its traditions were passed on, influencing acting styles and characters in later performances.