Commedia Dell' Arte: Introduction

Commedia Dell' Arte 

(Comedy of the Professional)

Commedia Dell’ Arte was created in the streets and market places of Renaissance Italy (1500). The performers would wear masks that would make them more noticeable and would help draw additional attention to themselves (as well as their physical and acrobatic skills). It soon became a popular art form and was firmly established as a genre in it’s own right by the mid 1500’s due to the high demand inside theatre’s as well as in the street.

This era of theatre was open to all social classes and because of their mime like movements and hilarious acrobatics, language was no barrier. Later on the idea of Commedia began to influence other styles, it spread all over Europe and adopted a major French influence. Artists, writers and actors such as Picasso and Charlie Chaplin can be seen to have a slight essence of Commedia in their work, it can even be seen in some TV shows such as Sienfeld!

To be an actor/performer in Commedia Dell’ Arte plays would require you to have many skills. You would not only need to be fit, but also flexible and acrobatic as some of the movements allocated to a character can be quite difficult to master. You would need to be able to improvise at a moments notice, as most of Commedia is unscripted.

The era, in which Commedia was created, was a time of rebirth. Italy was just coming out of the Middle Ages or, as some would call it, the ‘Dark Ages’. They began to look back at Ancient Rome and Greece, trying to bring the past to the present. Commedia can be seen to have some essence of Ancient Greek theatre, showing the incredible ways in which Italy was able to incorporate the Ancient times with their brand new life.

The makeup of Commedia was quite similar to ordinary makeup, especially for younger characters, although at times (due to the distance between the audience and the actors) heavier makeup was necessary. The hair ranged from wild/messy to clean cut and shaped, it all depended on the character and their status in society.

 

A lazzi is common term found in the world of Commedia Dell’ Arte. They are basically ‘gags’ or stock jokes that can be added into a Commedia performance or play as a way of ensuring the comic action keeps it’s pace. This is the only ‘scripted’ part of the play as the writer/director would often make sure the actor has lazzi’s memorized before the play/performance.

Rather than ‘Acts’ (which can be seen in Elizabethan plays), Commedia Dell’ Arte had scenarios. These scenarios were shorter than acts and often meant that plays went for much shorter times (compared to the 3 hour Shakespeare plays).