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Commedia Dell'Arte Overview

Commedia dell'arte was an unscripted Italian theater tradition that flourished between the 16th-17th centuries. It featured troupes of traveling actors who specialized in certain stock characters and improvised performances based on scenarios and situations. Key features included masks representing specific characters, lazzi or humorous interruptions, and scenarios that outlined plots without dialogue. While Carlo Goldoni sought to reform commedia dell'arte by adding written dialogue, Carlo Gozzi emphasized its improvisational roots in his own scenarios.

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265 views13 pages

Commedia Dell'Arte Overview

Commedia dell'arte was an unscripted Italian theater tradition that flourished between the 16th-17th centuries. It featured troupes of traveling actors who specialized in certain stock characters and improvised performances based on scenarios and situations. Key features included masks representing specific characters, lazzi or humorous interruptions, and scenarios that outlined plots without dialogue. While Carlo Goldoni sought to reform commedia dell'arte by adding written dialogue, Carlo Gozzi emphasized its improvisational roots in his own scenarios.

Uploaded by

Dirklenart
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

A presentation by:

Elena Pundjeva
Nikolay Raykov
What is Commedia Dell’arte?
• unwritten or improvised drama
• flourished in the XVI and XVII centuries
• Commedia dell’arte (comedy of professional
actors) vs.
• Commedia erudita (learned drama)
Origins

• mimes and other entertainers of Roman


times
• from improvisations based on the Roman
comedies of Plautus and Terence.
• The first Italian commedia dell'arte troupe
(1545)
Features: Troupes

• 10-12 members (7-8 men and 3-4 women)


• traveled a lot
• commonplace books
• costumes - players created their own masks
• payment - sharing plan
Features: Place of Performance
• commedia troupes could play almost
anywhere
• theatrical stages prepared by professionals

– Teatro Olimpico
Features: Scripts
• outlining the situations, complications and
the outcome
• no written dialogue
• remaining scripts
– some dramatic, tragic and musical
– most - comic
Features: Lazzi
• humorous interruptions
• performed by the most experienced actors
• pantomimic acting, acrobatic feats,
juggling, or wrestling
• used to enliven the performance
Features: Improvisation

• distinguishing feature of commedia dell’arte


• same actor always playing the same role
• quick reactions
Features: Masks
• each character associated with a specific mask
Scenarios
• earliest scenarios that have survived
– published in Venice in 1611
– come from the Gelosi company
– 40 comedies, 8 operas, one pastorals and one
tragedy
Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi
• Two of the most famous playwrights of Commedia
dell’arte scenarios
• conflicting points of view
Carlo Goldoni

• Biographic facts
• The Servant of Two Masters
• believed that commedia dell’arte needs to
be reformed
– dialogue
– improvisation
– masks
Carlo Gozzi

• Biographic facts
• Turandot, The Love for Three Oranges, and
King Stag.
• emphasized on improvisation
in his scripts

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