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Italian Renaissance Theatre Drama 1 Fall 2003 When? The Italian Renaissance was from 1550-1700 AD. The plague was still around, so theatre was not incredibly popular. As before, it was kept alive by wandering troupes. New forms of theatre Opera – Dialogue is sung rather than spoken – Actually a mistaken recreation of the Grecian chorus led to the development of the form of theatre we now know as Opera Commedia dell’arte – Performed by a troupe of actors that traveled from town to town – Entirely improvised (made up) Characters in the commedia All characters were stock characters There were three main groups of stock characters –The lovers –The masters –The servants Dottore The Lovers The lovers were the only characters that did not wear masks They were beautiful, welleducated, innocent, noble, and witty They are often opposed in their love by one or more of the masters Columbina The Masters Il Capitano (The Captain) – a braggart, cowardly soldier who claimed prowess in both love and battle but was often a failure in both Il Dottore (The Doctor) – a physician or professor who often spouts inaccurate Latin Pantalone (The Merchant) – a greedy, lustful, meddling man Pantalone The Servants The servants were called zanni. There were usually at least two servants, typically one smart and one less smart. The leader of the zanni was Harlequin. Much of the humor comes from the actions of the servants. Harlequin Commedia Design Most of the lazzi were low comedy They were using physical based on scenarios often humor given by the Slapstick comedy audience developed and was named after Interspersed in the action were the actual slapstick used to lazzi, or comic beat characters bits Capitano Commedia Costumes All characters except the lovers wore masks. –Masks covered only the top half of the face and often had distinguishing features The costumes were stock (repeated for characters in all scenarios) Set Design in Theatre Perspective was used in all theatres including opera. Scenery was layered to create a three dimensional effect. The floor of the stage was painted with tiles using perspective to show depth. More Scenic Inventions Created a chariot and pole system to enable multiple flats to be moved at the same time. Stages were raked to create upstage and downstage areas. Humanistic Theatre Highly formal. Was performed by the upper class for the upper class. Purity of form--tragedies were tragic, comedies were comic and there was NO mixing of the two. The Rules Verisimilitude--events in the play must be realistic. No violence on stage--do not offend the audience. No low language--do not offend the audience. Follow the unities of time, place, and action.