Commedia dell’arte (also known as Italian Comedy) was a theatrical movement, born in Italy and popular during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These theatrical presentations were demonstrations of music, dance, and witty dialogue which created the comedy. They were performed by travelling troupes of performers, usually on temporary stages in the streets. Some performances took place in court, and some of the more well-known troupes travelled internationally. One of these more famous troupes were the Gelosi, active between 1568 and 1604, who were asked to perform in 1577 for King Henry III in France. After this performance, the Gelosi carried their shows across Europe, performing in Poland, Spain and Germany. This established the tradition of touring that other Italian theatre companies took part in.
Despite travelling between regions of Italy, and even internationally, the dialogue of a Commedia dell’arte performance was not translated. Therefore, many audience members were unable to understand the languages or dialects of the performance. This was capitalised in the shows and many characters became associated with a language or dialect. For example, the character of il Capitano often spoke Spanish, il Dottore spoke Bolognese, and l’Arlecchino was completely incomprehensible, speaking total gibberish for the entirety of a performance. This made the physical elements of the performance all the more important. In fact, during many performances, the physical elements were the only rehearsed scenes in the show, while the dialogue was often improvised around the pre-established scenario. These were referred to as lazzi, and were pre-rehearsed physical sequences, or dance numbers, that could be inserted into any storyline in order to heighten the comedy. The comedy was also heightened by the use of props, which in turn made up for the lack of set due to the high proportion of street performances by Commedia dell’arte troupes. One of the most famous props was the stick carried by l’Arlecchino, which was used to make a slapping sound in the most comic sequences. This is the origin of slapstick comedy, both in the etymology of the word, and the style of comedy.
Despite not always understanding the dialogue, audiences were able to recognise the stock characters or archetypes that the scenarios used. L’Arlecchino was a childlike acrobat who wore motley coloured costumes and often a cat-like mask. The character was often a very simple-minded servant, affected by lack of money and food, and oftentimes in love with la Colombina (the maid). Il Dottore, a caricature of learning, was usually depicted in the traditional style of a medieval doctor, wearing a large black suit. Il Capitano was a caricature of a bold, swaggering soldier, dressed in a bright and colourful uniform. Other stock characters were literally named for what they do, Cantarina (singer) and Ballerina (dancer).
Commedia dell’arte, despite having fallen out of fashion in dedicated performances, has hugely influenced modern theatre and television. Think of The Simpsons, where it is the sound of Homer’s ‘doh’ that incites the laughs, a technique taken from l’Arlecchino’s stick in a Commedia dell’arte scene. The charm of a character being taken down a notch, especially to characters who deserve it, has remained a popular trope of modern slapstick comedy, in the same way that l’Arlecchino would take dignity from a character of a higher social class such as il Dottore. The large, expressive movements of lazzi could be interpreted as an influence for modern day comedy, such the over-the-top physical sequences performed by Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, and even in Shakespeare’s plays such as Twelfth Night we can see comedy created by hiding the true identity of a character, a subtle nod to the masks used by Commedia dell’Arte troupes who were active at the same time.
Ava Siena Cohen
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