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    Commedia Fact Sheet

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    Bianca Dee
    Commedia dell'arte was a popular form of theater in Renaissance Italy featuring stock characters performed by traveling troupes of actors. The characters, like Pantalone and Capitano, were exaggerated types that represented different social classes. These stock characters, their improvised performances, and lazzi routines influenced later works like Moliere's plays and the Marx Brothers films. Elements of Commedia dell'arte can still be seen in modern characters like Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson.

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    Commedia Fact Sheet

    Uploaded by

    Bianca Dee
    369 views2 pages
    Commedia dell'arte was a popular form of theater in Renaissance Italy featuring stock characters performed by traveling troupes of actors. The characters, like Pantalone and Capitano, were exaggerated types that represented different social classes. These stock characters, their improvised performances, and lazzi routines influenced later works like Moliere's plays and the Marx Brothers films. Elements of Commedia dell'arte can still be seen in modern characters like Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson.

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    Commedia dell'arte was a popular form of theater in Renaissance Italy featuring stock characters performed by traveling troupes of actors. The characters, like Pantalone and Capitano, were exaggerated types that represented different social classes. These stock characters, their improvised performances, and lazzi routines influenced later works like Moliere's plays and the Marx Brothers films. Elements of Commedia dell'arte can still be seen in modern characters like Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    369 views2 pages

    Commedia Fact Sheet

    Uploaded by

    Bianca Dee
    Commedia dell'arte was a popular form of theater in Renaissance Italy featuring stock characters performed by traveling troupes of actors. The characters, like Pantalone and Capitano, were exaggerated types that represented different social classes. These stock characters, their improvised performances, and lazzi routines influenced later works like Moliere's plays and the Marx Brothers films. Elements of Commedia dell'arte can still be seen in modern characters like Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson.

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    History - Commedia

    dell'arte
    Commedia dell'Arte, Italian for play of professional artists, was a popular form of
    entertainment in Italy during the Renaissance (the height of its popularity was from 1550 to
    1750). From Italy, Commedia gained great popularity in other European countries, especially
    in France.
    The actors in a Commedia troupe each focus on one character, who they play for the rest of
    their lives. These characters were stock types, meaning that the same characters appeared in
    every show. Each character had its own bit of lazzi, or business, which the audience would
    instantly recognize. Focusing on one character allows an actor to fuse his or her own
    personality with that of the individual they are playing.

    Commedia dell'Arte has had a distinct influence on comedy since its beginning. After its
    adoption in France, the effect was obvious in many plays, most notably those of Moliere. In
    his comedy Tartuffe, Moliere included the classic Commedia scenario involving a father
    arranging his daughter in a marriage to a man much older than she is. The daughter is, of
    course, already in love with a man her own age. Several of Commedia's stock characters are
    also present in Tartuffe, including the innocent lovers and the smart, wise-talking servant.
    These characters have also been adapted in other countries. One example of this is the still
    popular Punch and Judy show in England.

    More recently, Commedia's influence can be seen in the Marx Brothers movies, where
    much of the action and dialogue is improvised. The brothers used standard lazzi and
    costumes, and fused them with their versions of the stock characters. Mainstream audiences
    of today can certainly recognize many of Commedia's stock characters in the cartoon The
    Simpsons. Homer, Bart, and Mr. Burns are all examples of these characters.

    Stock characters
    Pantalone is a rich, old, lecherous man whose whole reason for being is money. He is very
    high on the social ladder of his town, and losing his money would make him drop in status,
    something that he fears more than anything. His servants, the Zanni, are working for him day
    and night.
    Pantalone also lusts after women, but is incapable of fulfilling his fantasies. Because of
    this, he makes unending catcalls and innuendoes towards them. If a woman does happen to
    respond to him (unlikely as that is), he is forced to retreat, since he can't act on anything. He
    believes that anything can be bought, and, while he is incredibly stingy, Pantalone will offer
    money to get whatever he wants. He will not, however, pay for anything, insisting that he's
    already paid.
    ⇒ Dottore is high on the social scale, at par with Pantelone and Capitano. He is
    officially a doctor, but generally has no idea what he is talking about. To make
    himself sound important, he will babble on forever, and eventually take the focus off
    of his diagnosis. Although he speaks with a lisp, Dottore is loath to stop talking. He
    speaks in non sequiturs (topics that have nothing to do with each other): "That is a
    lovely hat, I love the feathers, you know birds have feathers, I had the most
    wonderful chicken dinner last night..." and so on. If one were to go to Dottore, the
    diagnosis they are most likely to get is that they are pregnant, regardless of their
    gender. If they are not pregnant, they are dead (it doesn't matter that they are up and
    walking around). The other characters, surprisingly, hardly ever question what
    Dottore is talking about; since he is a doctor and throws in big impressive words
    every now and then, he must be right.
    ⇒ Capitano (in English, the "Captain") is the most macho of the macho men. He is
    extremely arrogant, with a huge ego, and he constantly brags about his many
    accomplishments. Of course, all of this is a lie. Behind this front of courage,
    Capitano is, in fact, a coward who is afraid of anything and everything. He wouldn't
    hurt a fly. He is able to pretend he is the captain of an army simply because he owns
    the uniform. His given name is usually something long and absurd using important
    sounding names and qualifications. It could be something like Bernardino
    Constantino Ermengildo Leopoldo Olimpio Walter Quinto, son of Mars of Olympus.
    The actor playing this character can have fun making up the name.
    ⇒ The lovers (the amorosi) are of high status in their town. They are the sons and
    daughters of characters who are also high on the social ladder; very often the female
    lover is Pantalone's daughter (when she is not his daughter, the male lover is his son,
    and Pantalone lusts after her). The lovers' status is slightly lowered because of their
    infatuation.
    It must be noted that the lovers are not only infatuated with each other, they are
    VERY infatuated with themselves. More often than not, they are only with each
    other because the other person makes them look better. They bicker often, making a
    big dramatic show out of their crying and trying to top each others' grief, but they
    immediately make up when they hear a compliment about their appearance.
    ⇒ Zanni (the name is where we get our word "zany") is a servant character who serves
    either Pantalone, Dottore, or Capitano. He never does well at his job, since all he
    thinks about is food or sleep. Often, he is distracted while on a mission, after hearing
    the name of a fruit--or after falling asleep. Zanni is stupid, poor, and slow, and
    therefore is the lowest character on the social scale. For a modern equivalent, think
    of Homer Simpson and his preoccupation with food.
    ⇒ Arlecchino is often called "Harlequin" in English. He is often a servant to Pantelone,
    Capitano, or Dottore, like the Zanni, but he is much more intelligent. He often tries
    to trick his masters, but usually fails. He is very quick, acrobatic, and limber. Bart
    Simpson is a sort of modern Arlecchino.

    Source: http://www1.american.edu/IRVINE/jenn/

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