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Theatre History
Commedia
Dell’arte
Commedia dell’arte
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In Italy during the 16th century, a new
type of comedy drama was developing. It
gained immense popularity and is still
enjoyed today.
Commedia dell’arte translates to comedy
of professional players.
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There were many commedia dell’arte
companies and they toured all over
Europe and England.
Commedia dell’arte featured a very unique
style of drama, often performed by family
groups of actors.
Origins of Commedia dell’arte
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Commedia was derived from the classical
Roman comedy farce and other Roman
plays.
It also relied on the skills of travelling
players such as acrobatics and physical
feats
Commedia dell’arte was widely popular,
fun and spontaneous
Commedia Scenarios
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There were no long, printed commedia
plays because it was improvised drama.
Instead there were standard characters
and brief scenarios.
It was up to the actors to improvise, and
make up the story and dialogue as they
went along.
The Stories
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Story lines usually involved:
Loves
Lies
Deceit
Disguises
Betrayal
Conflict
Physical Theatre
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Because all performances were improvised
there were an infinite number of interpretations
of the chosen scenarios
Great physical skill and skills in improvisation
were required to create these enjoyable and
very energetic performances.
Women as well as men acted in these
performances
Performance Venues
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Until the 17th and 18th centuries commedia
was not performed in purpose built
theatres
Plays were held in many different settings,
mostly outdoors in streets and markets on
makeshift stages, or even without a stage
in just a cleared space.
Characters of Commedia
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Often an actor would play a character for life, especially
one of the old men characters
Young actors tended to play the roles of The Lovers
Commedia troupes were usually made up of family
members
This was actor based theatre so it required everyone to
work together cooperatively
Actors needed to know their characters extremely well
so they could portray them in any improvised situation
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Commedia dell’arte consisted of a set of
stock characters
Masks and costumes were worn by the
characters, except ‘The Lovers’ who were
usually the centre of the performance
The Stock Characters
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The Lovers
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Masters/Old Men
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Zanni (The Servants)
The Lovers/Inamorati
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The scene usually revolved around the
young lovers who were always attractive
and young
The audience was encouraged to be on
their side in their fight against those who
opposed their relationships
These love affairs were often opposed by
either fathers or servants
The Masters/Old Men
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Usually doctors or lawyers
Their role was to stop the lovers getting
together
Pantalone and Il Dottore were the most popular
of these characters
These characters were targets of satire
Audiences were encouraged to laugh at them
pretending to be so clever, but really they were
pretty stupid
Pantalone
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A wealthy merchant
A miser with his money
Fiery and impulsive
Sneaky and hypocritical
Tries to prevent his young daughter from
marrying someone who is lower class
His mask reflects his mean, angry and
ugly character
Pantalone – mask & costume
Il Dottore
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The Doctor, but not necessarily a medical doctor,
just a highly educated man
Constantly bragging about his intelligence
Showing off
Lecturing the other characters and/or the
audience
His lecturing may be in gibberish and rarely
makes sense
His mask featured a heavy, serious face,
sometimes made to look like he drinks too much
Il Dottore – mask & costume
Zanni (The Servants)
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Servants were constantly fighting with their
masters, emphasising the difference in social
classes
These fights and misunderstanding were always
comical
Stories were usually seen through the eyes of
the Zanni
Unlike the Old Men, they were not made fun of
or satirised
Arlecchino
One of the most famous zanni characters
(Note the closeness of the words ‘zanni’ and
‘zany’.)
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He was dressed in bright patchwork clothes
The origin of this character was probably that of
the fool or jester of medieval times
Arlecchino – mask & costume
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Arlecchino was often hungry
He would get into hilarious messes that he
had to try and get out of
Acrobatics and physical feats were a very
important feature of this character
His character is open and optimistic
His mask is open and mischievous
Brighella
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Also a zanni/servant
Very different to Arlecchino
Untrusting
Sneaky
Cruel
Starts fights and problems
Brighella’s mask is rough and ugly
Brighella – mask & costume
Columbina
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The main female servant
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A friendly but firm character
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Columbina and Arlecchino were often
lovers, though usually there were
complications in their relationship
Columbina - costume
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Females did not wear masks in commedia
to make them more beautiful and keep
audiences more interested
Lazzi
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Lazzi were comic interludes or skits within the
play
Lazzi required great physical skills and flexibility
Lazzi often involved set performances which
were inserted into the improvised performance
Lazzi could be used in a flat spot in the
performance or to create a turning point in the
storyline
Set Speeches
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Some actors would learn long speeches
which could be inserted into the
improvised performance when
appropriate; maybe a speech about love,
hate, jealousy, marriage, etc.
History
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Commedia Dell’arte reached its peak
between 1575 and 1650 but it was still
popular for a further 100 years before it
began to lose favour
Many of its traditions were passed on,
influencing acting styles and characters in
later performances.