COMMEDIA DELLARTE

The Historical Background

Italy in the High-Middle Ages
Southern Italy in the 13th and 14th century was
partitioned between many small countries
The Northern Part was highly developed because of
the strong trade links after the crusades
The European economical boom of that era was
highly experienced in Italy
The agriculture flourished in the inner city-states
The Italian Mediterranean routes were also major
sources of knowledge and cultural exchange
There were constant wars for dominance between
the city-states followed by a peaceful period at the
end of 14th century

The Renaissance in Italy

A period of Great cultural achievement in
Europe, it encompasses the period between the
end of the 14th century to about 1600
The Italian Renaissance is considered to be the
opening stage of the entire epoch in Europe
It marks the transition between the Medieval
Ages to the Early Modern Age
The Italian Renaissance began in Tuscany,
Florence and Siena
Some of the most important figures of the era
are Petrarch, Machiavelli, Leonardo Da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Castiglione
Reawakened interests in Ancient Greek and
Roman thought and achievements
As a cultural movement the Renaissance
affected only small portions of the society

The Italian Theater

The Ancient legacy was revived and this led to
occasional performances of Roman comedies in many
small states in Italy known as Neoclassicism
The initial purpose of the Italian Theater was to
reflect the glory and power of the ruler in power
Another major feature was the desire to read and
understand the basics of the works of Aristotle,
Horace and other prominent ancient philosophers
The Renaissance Drama began developing in Italy at
that time, marking the end of medieval practices
Fantasy and supernatural elements were avoided in
neoclassical plays
The chorus and soliloquies were also discouraged.
Reality was stressed in drama plays along with plays
that teach moral lessons

The Italian Theater (cont)

The creation of a frame (proscenium arch) for the
pictorialized scenery became standard and remains so
the oldest theatre with permanent proscenium is Teatro
Farnese in Parma, built in 1618
The themes and topics of the Italian plays were drawn
from ancient mythology
At first the Italians did not have any permanent theatre
halls. They used to set up temporary performance stages
in large halls, used for different purposes
The acceptance of perspective scenery brought the
foundation of movement from architectural to
representational and pictorial stage the stage can be
modified according the specific production
The architectural methods of perspectives gave the
audience the illusion of distance and depth

Sebastiano Serlios Stage

A prominent Italian architect known for his high-quality

illusions and plans for theatrical scenery and stages
His Architettura Book II (1545), interpreted what he
thought were classic ideas on perspective and the
periaktoi and published the first designs on the
definitive types of sets to be usedfor tragedy,
palaces; for comedy, street scenes; for satyr plays, the
countryside.

Commedia Dellarte
It means Comedy of Art or Comedy of the
profession opposite to the literary comedy
Commedia Erudita
It began in the 15th century and kept its
popularity until the late 18th century (still
performed today in some theatres in Italy)
For the first time women had the right to
participate in theatrical production (in
contrast to the Elizabethan age). The number
of female roles increased, even though these
didnt become as permanent and deep as the
male characters

Commedia Dellarte
The troupe consisted usually of 10 people (7
men and 3 women), traveling around the
country
The plays were supported at the beginning by
donations and the were free to watch
The plays were held outside initially with poor
props and modest costumes
Outside Italy it was known as Italian Comedy
Improvised drama, implying the subject matter
of the play than the manner of performance of
the actors
Some of the plays can be traced back to the
plays of Plautus and Terence

Commedia Dellarte
The play was adjusted though improvisation
and most of the plays had satiric character
Characters in plays were portrayed by actors
wearing masks
Amusement in the form of acrobatics and
juggling was also provided
The material was divided into acts and scenes
with a prologue
The situation (scenario) had been clearly
determined and outlined, although the actors
improvised the dialogue and the action to
some extent

Commedia Dellarte
The performances created the impression of
spontaneity because the behavior of the
actors was quite unexpected by the other
actors on the stage
The actor was the heart and the emphasis
of the play
There were few scenarios which were tragic,
melodramatic, musical, and most of them
were comic, revolving around love affairs,
intrigues, disguises and others
Many actors were required to record
appropriate sentiments from poetry and
popular literature

The Stock Characters

Lovers the had the most realistic roles. They
gained popularity very fast because they did not
wear masks and were dressed according to the latest
fashion trends at that time. Usually the lovers were
children of the Masters. Their affairs were directly
related to the opposition of their parents
Masters The plutocrats, rich merchants, bank
owners and ship owners. E.g. Pantalone, Dottore,
and Capitano. They had dual characteristics. They
were intelligent and braggart, but later their
controversial personality is revealed by the plot
Servants Most of them were male actors. They
were the most diversified part of the plays. E.g.
Arlecchino, Pulcinelo and others

The Stock Characters

Arlecchino a poor and illiterate servant from Bergamo, who

sought for his fortune in Venice. He is also an acrobat and a
clown. Arlecchino was originally created in the French Theatre,
but later he was adapted by the Italians
Brighella A friend of Arlecchino, who always being made the
joke of. He was always not allowed to do something but his
eagerness brought him into very funny situations
Columbina a maidservant, a lover of Arlecchino. She is
intelligent and in many cases she gets involved into love
intrigues and scandals
Pantalone and old, rich and miserly merchant from Venice.
He employs Arlecchino and treats him cruelly. He always speaks
in a Venetian dialect
Pedrolino A kind and courteous servant who has always been
blamed for the others troubles and things he has never done.

The Masks
They played crucial role in Commedia Dellarte
All personages (except the lovers) wore color
leather masks
They were used to resemble and utilize the
personages and also to extinguish them from each
other
As a means of character identification they
demanded extremely advanced mimicry and
sometimes acrobatics
Many of them were similar to masks used in the
Ancient Roman Theatre

Zanni The Clowns

The Zanni include
Brighella
Columbina
Arlechinno
The clowns were
typically servants
in the scenarios,
providing the laughter.

Brighella
Personality

crafty, quick, unscrupulous

thrives on double dealings,
intrigues, and foul play
sometimes depicted as an
innkeeper, shop owner,
valet, or soldier
cynical liar who only looks
out for himself
He is sleazy, seductive,
dangerous.
He is a drunkard and
boisterous.

Physically
lazy but can move quickly
He slinks without muscular
effort
Always ready to pounce
He might blithely be
cleaning his nails with the
knife which will soon cut a
throat.
He gets very close to
people when he speaks.
He can sing and dance,
and drink with the best of
them.
His costume is usually
trimmed in green.

Brighella

Columbina

Personality
female servants
fresh and frisky,
sometimes crafty, and
often without morals
makes use of disquises,
dressing up as doctors,
cavaliers, barristers, and
other servants
often the smartest
character in a scenario
She was autonomous, selfsufficient, and quite
rational.

Physically
Columbina was not afraid
to show her buxom
contours or flaunt her
robust hips.
She stands with hands on
her hips, or holding a
basket or tamborine, while
flirting

Columbina (Smeraldina)

Arlechinno

Personality
like a 5-year-old
eager to please his master
or mistress
His first attention is to
food: how to get it, how to
savor it
He loves tricks and
physical antics
usually cannot read, which
makes him confuse
messages sent by lovers.
He is ignorant yet clever;
slow mentally but quick
physically.

Physically
his lower back is arched
his arms are often bent
with hands on his hips, in
readiness to serve
His legs turn out,
sometimes with heels
together and other times
with the back knee bent
and the front leg straight.
He runs quickly and
lightly, kicking his feet
forward.
He sneaks to steal food
with large, exaggerated,
silent steps.
He can stop in an instant,
especially when caught in
one of his pranks.

Arlechinno (Truffaldino)

Vecchi
Vecchi are the old
men characters.
They are typically
father figures or
evil characters.
They include
- Pantalone
- Il Dottore
- Il Capitano

Pantalone

Personality
wealthy, paranoid,
merchant
Money is his obsession
He is a master at seducing
beautiful young women,
He suspects that everyone
is out to deceive him.
He complains about his
physical ailments: aching
back, bad knees, gout, etc.
that conveniently come
and go at his discretion.

Physically
His pelvis is tilted under but
he is not hunched over
His knees are bent with his
heels together, toes pointing
outward
he runs and walks heels first
His hands and fingers
actively fidget in counting
money or holding his money
pouch
In spite of being old and sick,
he is surprisingly agile
Pantalone usually has a
curled, pointed beard, red
leggings, and a long cape
(denoting higher status).

Pantalone

Il Dottore

Personality
professes to know
everything, but actually
knows nothing
He loves to hear himself
speak and expounds on
answers, whether asked or
not (but he is always
wrong)
He claims to be a doctor of
medicine, philosophy,
science, law, language,
literature, art, politics, or
the classics, or all of them.
He is a delightfully
pretentious bag of wind.

Physically
His mask covers the
forehead and nose,
signifying his heady
thoughts and nosy
intrusions.
He bounces when he walks
uses his hands
expressively to clarify his
vivid ideas

Il Dottore

Il Capitano

Personality
the cowardly braggart
soldier
He is the foreigner in the
scenario, speaking with
an accent (or two)
enters to conquer
arrogant foes, to rescue
young damsels in
distress, or to win the
hearts of beautiful
widows.
He is, however, a wimp.
He avoids fighting at all
costs by deflecting
conflicts, feigning death,
or outsmarting
aggressors.

Physically
long nose, signifying brawn
over brains (the longer the
nose, the fewer the brains..)
He holds his weapon strongly
and aggressively (anything
from an old, rusty or crooked
sword to a stick he thinks is a
sword),
but doesn't really know how to
use it
he stands tall and has a wide
stance, with feet firmly planted
But when avoiding conflict he
becomes small and shy,
shriveling and shivering in fear
He can run very fast when
necessary.

Il Capitano (Florindo)

The Lovers
The Lovers were the average characters who were
typically being kept apart. They included
Leandro
Inamorata
The Lovers did not typically wear masks.
However, they did wear heavy make-up.
THE LOVER, whether called Leandro, Flavio,
Lelio, Ottavio, is always charming, dapper, and
sometimes a bit ridiculous. His sole purpose in the
script is to be in love. He must be young, good
looking, courteous and gallant.
The Inamorata was a role originally played by
men in France and England

The Lovers (Silvio &

Clarice)

Carlo Goldoni
(1707-1793)
One of the Italys (Europes)
Greatest playwrights, born in
Venice in 1707
He attracted the theatre-goers by
creating characters that were
similar to them, and often
through dramatizing the conflicts
and dramas of the contemporary
middle-classes
Initially he wrote tragedies but later he found he is
better in the comedy genre
His main idea was that the Italian life was
susceptible to artistic treatment

The Servant of Two

Masters

by Carlo Goldoni

Written in 1745 by Goldoni for a Venetian commedia dellarte

troupe
Panatalone and Brighella are presented with entirely new traits
In contrast to other commedia plays, here the middle-class
characters were treated with respect and the women are much
more sensible than the men
The cast of characters belongs to commedia (Arlecchino,
Brighella etc.)
The coarse and sexual topics here are avoided
The plot is based on disguise, coincidence and
misunderstanding
The servant of two masters does not achieve a high level of
characterization or social commentary

Lazzi
Stage business
Humorous interjections which had
nothing to do with the play itself such
as:
Humorous remarks
Acrobatics
Juggling
Wrestling

Lazzi
Each actor has a notebook filled with
well-rehearsed comic action such as:
Sententious remarks
Figures of speech
Love discourses
Rebukes

Lazzi
Used to:
Fill up time
Occasionally amuse the audience
Create a change of pace
Different forms of Lazzi:
Weeping and laughing
Fear
Knocking at the door
Fight