Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Greetings Theatre
Student. Its your time
bending pal Caesar
again ready to walk
you through another
lesson of World
Theatre. In this lesson
we will be going
through the fun and
exciting world of
Commedia Del Arte, a
16th century Italian
amateur comedic style
of theatre that uses
stock characters and
improvisation! Lets get
started.
Historical ContextLets add a little backstory to this theatre style
shall we. Well Commedia Del Arte dates
back to 1545 in Italy where young amateur
actors and actresses performed in troupes
on the streets for the common folk. Unlike
other forms of theatre, Commedia was not
known to have any written plays until their
later works such as the plays of Goldoni’s
Servant of Two Masters, Androcles and the
Lion and GozziThe Green Bird.Also
Commedia Del Arte scenarios were
published by FlaminioScala in 1611.
Professional troupes worked all around Italy
and soon spread across Europe as a typical
and popular form of entertainment.
Fundamental Characteristics of Commedia Del Arte
Lazzi- Comic bits within Commedia that were plot points within the piece that helped progress the story
Improvisation and Spontaneity: Although lines were stored up and stories were written before hand to include a beginning, middle and end by the acting Manager, Commedia needed to remain fresh, exciting and spontaneous. Most stories remained clear enough to include plot points but vague enough to include lazzis to help the story progress and add spontanetiy.
Actors played one Stock Character Role for all of their lives
Themes within Commedia Del
Arte -Righteous and Meek
Servants overcoming Unfair
Masters.
-A common theme
among most Commedia
is that the servant
characters or the zanni
overcome their harsh
Masters. This echoed
to the politics of the
times between the
actual class systems of
Italy.
Introduction to Stock
Characters
“Each troupe had stock characters, each having a name
and trait that set the characters off from similar
characters in other companies. However the same
character types tended to repeat from one troupe to
another” (History of Theatre, Oscar J Brockett pg.173)
Characters where put into two categories: The masked
and the unmasked characters.
•
•
•
•Male: Lelio, Mario, Fulvio
•Female: Isabella, Angelica
Silvia
Common Lazzi for Lovers
Lazzis: Comedic bits that continue the story of the character and express a part of who they are
1.) Lets out a very exciting coo as she jumps up and down in place. 2.) Losing temper and screaming and shouting until she gets her way. 3.) Tap Dancing 4.) A long dramatic sigh 5.) Rolling eyes in disgust or disbelief. 6.) Dramatic mood swings. 7.) Feigning innocence and/or shock whenever caught or in an embarrassing situation or confronted with a very direct male lover. 8.) Likes to go temporarily insane. 9.) Kicks the ground when upset.
•
•
•
•
Common Lazzis for
Pantalone
Lazzo of the Lost Money Bag:TwoPantalones
meet. There is a money pouch lying on the floor.
There are three phases to the encounter. Keep
moving physically as much as possible.-
Greeting- each thinks the other does not see it
and try and get rid of the other.-Recognition- of
the fact the purse is there, statement of claims
and counter claims for outrageous reasons.-
Contest (choreographed)- race for the purse.
Masked Master: Dottore
Dottores character is another higher up master character and although not obsessed with money, he is obsessed with stroking his own ego. Especially about how smart he is and his made up endeavors. He’s also fat and loves to drink.
Think big hippo with this one. Small large movements mostly related to the belly.
Relationships: Neighbor/Rival of Pantalone and clinging to others for his own gain. (Tries to talk about self and do failed medical experiments with no back round knowledge.)
Common Lazzisfor Dottore
1.) Believes someone suffers from an ailment which they obviously do not. Offers to cure them.
2.) Spontaneously diagnoses performers on stage.
3.) Tries to enlist assistance to help him perform experimental surgeries on himself and others.
4.) Performs random experiments in the name of science and medicine.
5.) Is usually trying to make and get people to try strange potions.
6.) Accidentally takes his own medicine.
Masked Master: Capitano
This one is a bit of a funny spin off of the Italians view of the Spanish. Another braggart of egos, this time in the essence of being a great solider that lead his men into battles that he always won. The truth is that he’s a big chicken.
Movement: Leading mostly with the nose and standing firm with confidence. Marches everywhere
Relationships: Servant to Pantalone or Doctore however higher then the servant characters for his “noted” endeavors.
CapitanoLazzis
1. Lazzo of Excuses - Capitano goes into a long spiel about how he could kill whoever he is talking to, how he could destroy them in so many ways with so much ease, but there is always some silly reason why he can’t.
2. Lazzo of Counting - He beats Arlecchino for some reason ten times, but keeps losing count and starting over.
3. Lazzo of Killing - Capitano and Arlecchino decide to kill Pantalone. To demonstrate to the other how he would kill Panatlone, he says, “You be Pantalone”, and strangles the other. As Arlecchino nearly passes out, he says, “Now you be Pantalone” and returns the favor.
Masked Servant:
Arlechinno
•Arlechinno is one of the most common
servant type characters of the Commedia
Story. Androcles in the Lion uses the
character of Arlechinno as their main
protagonist Androcles. Some defining
characteristics is a simple minded servant
with great physical ability and acrobatics.
He is also known for being gluttonous
•Movement: Cat Like movement,
Frequently taking general movement
such as walking and running and
including cartwheels, somersaults and
flips.
•Relationships: Servant to Dottore and
Pantalone, Helps Lovers, and Sometimes
hurt by Capitano.
Arlechinno Lazzis
Monosyllable Lazzo: Weeping, Arlecchino enters the
stage. The Doctor question him as to his behavior,
but Arlecchino only answers in monosyllables. Or,
Arlecchino’s master questions him while Arlecchino
eats. Concerned about a widow, the master asks
increasingly complicated questions about her, while
Arlecchino always manages to answer in
monosyllables as he gobbles down the food.
Masks? Why Masks?
A common question most thespians ask is why do Italians
use the masks constantly?
Identifying characters was one of the main concerns. Since
many troupes changed the way the characters costumes,
keeping the masks consistent helped the audience
remember.
Limiting the view of the actor helps create unique
movement, each character having its own unique
movements
Movements essential nature in
Commedia
•Movement is also an essential
part of Commedia Del Arte. Each
specific character shows their
personality, motives and
objectives through their body
movement and through this the
character comes to life
•Exercise:
•Walk across the room.
Students are all lined up
along one wall and asked to
walk across the room one by
one, making their walk as
unique as possible. This is
another way of making lazzi
as children with try to out do
each other and the walks will
become bigger and better.
Thanks for another great
adventure through
another time period in
history. I do have to head
out Thespians but
provided on the next
slide is a hidden link to
some more info on
Commedia Del Arte from
the National Theatre
Company. Click on any
part of the slide to
access it. They have
plenty more videos on
there so please check
them out to get some
