Commedia Del Arte

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Commedia Del Arte

• An Overview

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What it is

• Commedia Del Arte means comedy done by
  professionals
• Developed first in Italy during the late 15th
  Century to enact popular folk tales through
  improvisation.
• Traveled and became popular throughout all of
  Europe by early 16th Century.
• Professional actors would play a stock character
  for many years and companies were formed that
  would tour the countryside

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More History

• Groups would tour to trade fairs called Carnivals
  and Lazzi or comic bits would be performed
  within the stories they acted.
• If the audience didnt understand the language,
  the actors would mime, juggle, or tumble and do
  more physical Lazzi.
• The Commedia tradition lasted through the early
  19th Century when Gypsy bands would travel around
  the Slavic countries

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Even More History

• The Commedia tradition led to burlesque the
  Vaudevillian theatre of the Jewish population in
  Russia, Germany and other countries and
  immigrated to America through this culture.
• Early film employed Commedia technique in the
  work or Charley Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold
  Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy as well as the Marx
  Brothers comedy style.

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Still even more

• Television employed stock characters in the
  development of situation comedies and cartoon
  showsall branches of the Commedia tradition of
  stock characters in new situations but with
  predictable behaviors and characters the audience
  knows and relates to.

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The Mask

• Not all characters in Commedia wore masks but all
  characters presented were said to portray a
  mask or an artificial face. The main comic
  characters wore half face masks made of leather.

Arlequino or Haalrquin
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The Stock Characters

• The Zanni - Peasant or slave. Comic underling.
• Arlecchino- Has an enduring magical power and is
  a servant to Pantalone- wore odd shaped patches.
  Source of Harlequin. Acrobat, prankster,agile
• Brighella- Kind of the boss of the other
  servants. Might be a sergeant or other mid-level
  boss type (Moe in the 3 stooges or Groucho in
  Marx Bros) thief and bully

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The Old Men

• The Old Men The old men were wealthy and lusted
  after young women but were usually fooled or made
  a fool of in the end.
• Pantalone- Very wealthy, old and in charge but
  foolish.
• Il Dottore- Bachelor or widower. When he does
  marry he is cuckholded. Often the father to one
  of the lovers. Friend to Pantalone, absent minded
  and full of jargon and double talk.

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Still more characters

• Il Capitano- Self appointed captain and braggart
  who in the face of real danger is a complete
  coward. Brags about female conquests hes never
  had
• Colombina - a female Zanni- A spirited, clever,
  flirt. A servant usually to Pantalone and
  usually assists the lovers in their quest to get
  together. Companion to Arlecchino.

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Il Capitano and Isabella
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More Characters

• The Lovers Young Male (inammorati) and Female
  lead (Innamortae)whos love is blocked by the
  circumstances of the story.
• Isabella - One of the most popular female forms
  of the lover who was kind of a primadonna, stuck
  up and openly flirtatious
• Il Cavaliere - Young male who was a soldier and
  attractive to women for his virility. But he was
  very unfaithful in his love.

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Pantalone and Il Dotore
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More still

• Pedrolino - The youngest son in a family..the
  butt of jokes, a hunchback.
• Pulcinella- Means little chicken and thats kind
  of what he was.
• Scapino - a lead Zanni, played multiple
  instruments or very accrobatic. Crafty but
  cowardly
• Scaramuccia - Means little fighter. He was a
  servant to a poor gentleman. Large mustache.
• Tartaglia - a stammerer or stutterer, frequently
  a lawyer

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Il Capitano and Scaramouche
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Zanni Masks
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Pulcinnella and Brighella
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The Lovers
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Columbine and Isabella
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Commedia Assignment

• In Breakfast Club groups you will create a short
  scenario using the Simpsons or I Love Lucy
  television show characters as your stock
  characters.
• Create a 3 to 5 minute skit playing the
  characters in the scenario.
• Create Lazzi (comedy bits) inside the scenario.
• This is not a script and should be improvised
  from the plan.