Commedia
dell'arte
By Billie, Brogan,
Maria Pia and
Mutuayo
What is ‘Commedia dell’arte
Commedia dell’arte also known as
‘Italian’ comedy was a humorous
theatrical presentation performed by
professional players who travelled in
troupes throughout Italy in the 16th
Century.
Performances took place on temporary
stages, mostly on city streets but
occasionally at court venues. The better
the troupes – notably Gelosi, Confidentali,
and Fedeli- performed in places and
became internally famous once they had
travelled abroad.
Music, dance and witty dialogue
contributed to the comic effect.
Subsequently the art form spread
throughout Europe, with many of its
element persisting into present day
theatre.
Actors and
Actresses!
Actors were paid a fair wage; a round of
applause on your exit line meant you often
got extra money. For the first time, there
were woman actresses. Before Commedia,
Literary Societies, populated with
academics, often performed amateur
theatre, and there were professional
entertainers- ‘jongleurs’- but there were no
professional theatre.
Commedia dell’arte seems to have a marriage between the academics
and the ‘jongleurs’, between ideas and skills, between minds and body,
and between high and low class. It was originally known as ‘Commedia
all’improviso, the players taking the roles of different types found in
society, from lowly servants to middle class professionals and lofty
aristocrats. These types were clearly defined and contrasted to help
the actors with their improvisation: high masters with low servants,
lost lovers with knowing maids, cunning servants with stupid masters.
More on Performances
As there was no written plays, the actors worked from
a scenario of running order pinned behind the stage,
detailing entrances and exits of players and the main
points conveyed in the scene. Traditional themes
involved riches and poverty, power and servitude,
barrenness and fertility, wisdom and folly, and, of
course, life and death.
There was no
central heroes
in Commedia
dell’arte rather
each character
had a story
line with a
beginning,
middle and
end to their
plight, and all
these stories
were woven
together to
end, usually
with a
marriage in
the final
scene.
As well as socially, the
characters were also
divided by whether or
not they were masked.
The masked characters
are cynical and end the
story by in their rightful
places; the unmasked
are linear and go on a
journey from one state
to another. Both sets of
characters have lessons
to learn on the way
about life, love, justice
and society- all topics
that would concern the
audience.
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