Commedia dell'Arte

This is a drawing of four characters from Commedia  dell'Arte, three of which are gentlemen, and one is Pierro.(1)

   Commedia dell'Arte

A mask like this would often be used for Puncinella,
 known as Punch in America. (2)

Italian for "unwritten or improvised drama", Commedia dell'Arte was amongst one of the most popular theatre forms of the past and was created to be an art of comic relief.

Rising in Italy  in the 14th Century up till 18th century. This masquerade like show style flourished from 16th to 17th century, especially in France. Commedia dell'Arte is unique in the fact that it doesn't come about through a written script. The actors play by scenario or canvas, situations that were outlined before the show. They would play out simple things such as star-crossed lovers, a father and son falling for the same girl, or heroes being mistaken as villains.

Many places in Europe sell figurine collectibles of these
 memorable characters, shown  above from left to right are:
 Arlecchino, Pantalone, and il Dottore. (3)

"The actors had to find the proper words to make the tears flow or the laughter ring; they had to catch the sallies of their fellow-actors on the wing, and return them with prompt repartee. The dialogue must go like a merry game of ball or spirited sword-play, with ease and without a pause." Mantzius, History of the Theatrical Art.

This is Lightwire Theatrical Production's performing 'Cafe Floriani'
They are demonstrating Commedia dell'Arte. They use few words, interact with the audience, are costumed in recognizable ways, and throughout use duplicated movements to symbolize  who they are.

The magic of the mask is that with the right actors,
 they seem to come alive with expressions even though they are only
crafted with a single personality. (4)

Commedia dell'Arte is the source of many types of improvisation today, such as clowns, acrobats, mimes, etc. The actors use little words, and mostly physical movements to tell the story. Much of it to disengage that language barrier normal theatre has. They use a lot of the lazzi technique that often did not have anything to do with the story, it was just to make people laugh. Lazzi is often portrayed through slapstick, acrobatics, pantomime, juggling, or wrestling.We also have inherited it's creation of symbolic characters we still use in television, theatre, and movies today. They are called stock characters, who appear with the same names, personality, and costuming in every performance. Every character overtime has developed certain movements, looks, and sayings passed on through generations.

The masks are crafted from leather, wood and sometimes glass.
The actors themselves used to create their masks themselves,
which would often help with connecting to the character.(5)

                       Characters 

Every character represented in the show stemmed from Italy being an un-unified country when the art was created. The characters are all from different parts of Italy and portray the stereotypical attitude of those people.

Pantalone- old man, miserly, sometimes an impotent merchant, often from Vienna. Sometimes a father figure who thrawts young love.

Il Dottore- also older, pompous, always a scholar of Some sort, he gives stupid advice although he really holds valuable knowledge. Often from Bologna.

Il Capitano- boastful, soldier, often from Spain, he would talk about old war stories but at a hint of real danger would be the first to take off. ( a lot like Capt Jack Sparrow..*coughcough*)

Zanni- the jester

Arlecchino- aka Harlequin, trouble maker

Puncinella-  aka Punch, hunchback with dark features, a cape, and 3 corner hat, trouble maker, a lot of the slapstick comes from this character

Brighella and Tartaglia- other famous male characters

Primo Amoroso- female, not masked, conventionalized, ignorant, helpless. Often went under names like Isabella, Lucinda, Leonera, or Ardelie

Hero- saved the primo amoroso from everything. Went by names like Flavio, Leonardo, and Valerio.

Servants/Maids- they scold, aid, and assist plotters. A famous maid goes by Columbile.

Inamoratio- youn lovers with frustrating passions.

Fun Facts:

• By 1760 there were no italian born Commedia dell'Arte performers in France
• The English hated this artform, but later created what i snow known as  pantomime, in the 18th century, from it.
• The French Revolution striked liberated people to form mimes, which stemmed from Commedia silence.
• February 25th is Internatiional Commedia dell'Arte day
• The United Nations has not recognized thiis arts stock charachters as a form of theatre tradition, when they recognized Japanese Noh and Kabuki.
• Commedia is divided into acts and scenes with a prolague at the beginning.

Info, pictures, video from:

http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/ss06021t.htm

http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html#anchor442530

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95EzlJDaPZo&feature=related

google.com

"The World Of Theatre" TextBook