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Commedia dell’arte
Background
“The scenario is no more than the fabric of scenes woven from a plot, which brief hints of the action, divided into acts and scenes, which are to be acted extemporaneously by the performers.” ~ Andrea Perrucci, dell'arte rappresentativa, premeditate ed all' improvviso
Commedia dell'arte is a improvised comedic theatre form that flourished in Italy in the 1500’s. The exact origins of Commedia are fuzzy and hard to pin down. There is not much documented previously to the 16th^ century. The term itself (Commedia dell’arte) wasn’t put to common use until the 18th^ century. It is generally acknowledged that the form solidified in Italy in the 1550’s and reached its peak in the 1650’s. Despite an opaque history, the elements that define Commedia are quite clear:
improvised performances based on scenarios - actors worked off a base outline and made up their lines stock characters - the characters were always the same, only the situations changed limited themes - love, money, or food were the base of almost every scenario use of mask - the mask defined the characters use of lazzi - short comedic physical bits within the story use of mime, acrobatics, and music
Commedia performers travelled in troupes from town to town and performed outside in town squares on makeshift stages. Actors relied on costumes and props rather than elaborate sets. Famous troupes began to emerge as the style evolved. The Gelosi (The Jealous) had their own coat of arms, and their motto was perfect for a Commedia
troupe: Virtu, fama ed honor ne fer gelosi - “ We are jealous of attaining virtue, fame, and honor."
“In size, the troupes averaged ten to twelve members; seven or eight men and three or four women. A typical troupe included two sets of lovers, a servant girl, a capitano, two zanni, and two old men...productions were supervised by the leader or most respected member of a troupe. It was the leader’s responsibility to explain the characters, clarify the action, enumerate the lazzi and acquire the properties needed.” ~ Oscar Brockett, History of the Theatre
One unique difference with Commedia dell’arte in comparison to previous theatre eras is that women performed their roles (instead of being played by men). The most famous Commedia actress was Isabella Andreini, a member of the Gelosi. She was known for playing the female lover character, the Inamorata. Her tour de force performance was called Pazzia d'Isabella (Isabella's madness). During the show, Isabella goes mad by speaking several languages, singing in French, and imitating all of the other characters, male and female. After her death, her name became synonymous with the Inamorata role.
The nature of the improv
It’s a misconception to think of Commedia improvisation as actors just making everything up on the spot. Yes, the lines of the play would have been improvised each time they performed, but the actors were also following well laid out scenarios, well defined lazzi (each actor would have had several lazzi in their arsenal) and specifically detailed characters. Many actors only played one or two characters in their lifetime (like Isbella Andreini above) so they would have years of practice to draw on as they “improvised.” Since Commedia troupes (often comprised of close family members) spent all their time together, they would have worked well together as they brought the plays to life.
What does “Commedia dell’arte” mean?
There are a number of definitions of the phrase Commedia dell’arte:
Artistic comedy Comedy of art Comedy of skills Comedy of professional artists Italian comedy
Vocabulary
battacio: Slap stick. Carried by Arlecchino.
battute: Set dialogue that always happens between two specific characters.
burla: Improvised comic bit or practical joke done by the servants, often involving 2 actors.
The masters are usually foolish greedy old men, and the servants are hungry and mischievous. The young lovers are always in love. Most of the characters wear masks, but even those without masks (e.g. the Lovers) treat their personas as masks. In Commedia, the characteristics of a character (such as a walk, a pose, or gesture) are just like wearing a mask.
The Stock Characters
“Commedia makes the actor the most important element in the play since language is negligible and plot is simple.”
- Bari Rolfe, Commedia dell’arte: A Scene Study Book
As the characters remain the same regardless of the story they're involved in, you would be able to recognize a Commedia stock character in an instant by how they move, what they wear, and how they act.
Pantalone
Old Venetian Merchant. Rich and greedy miser. Obsessed with money. Always after women and thinks he’s good at it. Gullible and often tricked.
Costume: Red pants and top with a flowing black cloak. Has a money bag.
Mask: Long pointed nose. Often has a moustache and bushy eyebrows.
Movement: Leads with the forehead and has a hunched back with bent knees. Fluttery hands, which he tries to contain by clasping them behind his back. Always bent over trying to keep his money safe!
Arlecchino
Servant, poor, always wanting money, always hungry. Carries a bat/slapstick. Stupid and smart at the same time. Doesn’t want to work but eager to please.
Costume: Tight fitting patchwork colourful costume.
Mask: Black mask. Small eyes. Catlike face.
Movement: Low status. Very acrobatic and quick. Leads with his knees and is very active, always on the move, never moving in a straight line. Think monkey.
Innamorati
The young lovers. (Innamorato & Innamorata) These characters are very much in love with love. They love each other, they love themselves. They carry mirrors so that they can look at themselves as often as possible. They act completely over the top in their infatuations like Soap Opera characters. They have no notion of the consequences of their actions, nor are they all that bright. They’re totally focused on the notion of love.
Not often a real doctor, more likely a professor, a lawyer, philosopher. Often spouting knowledge at the most inopportune time. His diagnosis of any situation is always wrong and makes no sense. Never stops talking and what he talks is nonsense. Know it all, but knows nothing. Fat.
Costume: Dressed in black academic garb. Black jacket (think graduation gown), black skullcap and a mortarboard.
Mask: Only covers the forehead and the nose with the actor’s cheeks bare. Round nose.
Movement: Focus on Il Dottore’s large size - it affects his movement. It’s all about the body. The weight is in the heels and the movement is slow. Think of a pig.
Brighella
The tough servant. Arrogant, violent, womanizer. No morals. Liar. Always on the pursuit for food. Ready for a fight. Ready for trouble.
Costume: dressed as a servant, wears a white costume. Carries a dagger.
Mask: A green half mask.
Movement: Focus on the fact that he’s ready for a fight. Think of a big cat like a cheetah or a panther.
Il Capitano
It seems that Il Capitano is a man's man, a soldier, a warrior who brags about his exploits. But in fact, he just talks a big game. He has many war stories from conquests in Spain at the ready but really he’s a coward and a scaredy cat.
Costume: He wears the trappings of traditional military garb. He also carries a sword, but never draws it.
Mask: Long pointy nose.
Movement: Seems like a high status character. Walks like a stereotypical hero - big movements, chest puffed out, shoulders square, marching steps, stands at attention. But then when he’s scared he immediately reverts to a low status character.
Pulcinella
Flaminio Scala, a Commedia actor from the 16th^ century published a collection of 50 scenarios called Il Teatro Delle Favole Rappresentative. Some of his scenario titles are: The Pranks of Isabella , The Old Twins , The Hunt , Flavio Betrayed , The Jealous Old Man , The Desperate Doctor , The Mirror , The Just Punishment , and The Fake Servants.
Scenario Resources
http://www.isebastiani.com/Scenarios.html http://math.bu.edu/people/jeffs/scenario.html https://sites.google.com/site/italianCommedia/plays-and-scenari http://www.amazon.com/Best-Commedia-DellArte-Plays- Scenarios/lm/11HX9F9UR2GID
Lazzi
Lazzi (or Lazzo in the singular) are practised and predetermined comic bits. They could either be performed individually or in groups. Each actor has a repertoire of Lazzi at their disposal. Lazzi don’t connect to the plot or move the story forward. Their purpose is to make the audience laugh.
Lazzi Resources
http://www.amazon.com/Lazzi-Comic-Routines-Commedia- dellArte/dp/ http://shane-arts.com/Commedia-stock-characters.htm http://2011aisdramawiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/Physical%20Comedy.pdf/ 15691048/Physical%20Comedy.pdf
Commedia Plays
There are very few existing scripts for Commedia plays, as they were never written down. The one that many point to is The Servant of Two Masters, written in 1743 by Carlo Goldoni,an Italian playwright.
We have our own Commedia script, The Scarlet Heart written by Allison Williams. A hungry, greedy crew lust after a huge gem. Of course, there’s not one competent thief in the bunch and even though Pantelone owns the gem, he’s not doing a great job of keeping it safe.
See sample pages from The Scarlet Heart.
Commedia in Performance
The Commedia actor is a physical actor. The personality of each character is ground in the pose, the gesture, and the movement. Bigger is better, but what that really means is that the characters want something so much that they must move in an exaggerated fashion to get it. The want is connected to the movement.
Allison Williams wrote the following when I asked her, “What should actors strive for in a Commedia performance?”
- Commitment to action - the characters act on their thoughts just as Shakespeare's characters speak all their thoughts.
- Truth in size - a larger size of character, but it doesn't feel fake cartoon-y, because they're really committed - like The Simpsons can still move the audience, because even though it's absurd, it's committed.
- Understanding of the characters' drives - they want something and they want it single-mindedly and bad. No subtle drives - they want love, money, food.
- Physical commitment - clean, big gestures and actions, it doesn't have to be huge acrobatics, but definite choices made about their bodies and how their characters move, and interesting looking positions when they are standing still (they should look like a statue of the character when they aren't in motion).
- If they're in mask, focusing the masks, where the mask looks like part of the face (especially active mouths, where the mouth is as big as the mask) and where they lead with the mask and use it to direct focus and attention. If they aren't in mask, interesting use of props and body positions to make the "mask" of the character (i.e. if a lover has a fan, or Pantalone has a money bag, that's their mask, and how does their use of it express character like a cat switching its tail).
