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| ABOUT COMMEDIA DELL' ARTE
Commedia Dell' Arte is the lively form of professional Italian mask theatre that flourished in 16th and 17th Century Europe. Commedia is an actor's theatre. It is an exciting, challenging, physical, inspiring part of our western heritage. Traditionally, these crowd-pleasing troupes played to thousands, relying on their exceptional physical skills, quick comic timing, and sharp satiric wit to bring familiar, broad characters to ebullient life. BellaLuna welcomes you to join with us in honouring that tradition. Commedia Troupes were the comic stars of the time - they
were social satirists, improvisers, with great acrobatic abilities. Who
does that now? Can Mary Walsh or Rick Mercer do a backflip or juggle
fire while they're making funny? Not a chance. BellaLuna strives to
mingle the Excitement of 'Cirque Du Soleil', the Satire of 'This Hour
Has 22 Minutes' and the Spice in a great plate of Spaghetti Puttanesca.
Click on a subject or scroll down CHARACTERS - Description of principal Commedia Personalities RESOURCES - A Brief List IMAGES - Classic Scene and Character Images CHARACTERS THE MASTERS: - Pantalone Pantalone is the greedy old miser who comes from Venice. He usually is the master of Arlecchino and usually carries a bag of money. His mask has a hooked nose and usually some grey or white facial hair. An animal association is the turkey or hawk. - Il Dottore Il Dottore is a professor or a doctor who comes from Bologna. He likes to talk a lot and listen to himself talk! What he says is usually nonsense. His mask emphasizes his forehead and nose. There are no cheeks on this mask. An animal association is the boar or owl. THE SERVANTS: - Arlecchino Arlecchino is a mischievous male servant who comes from the city of Bergamo. He has a bump on his head and he usually carries a baton or slapstick. His mask has a bump on the forehead. Some of the older masks were all black. An animal association is the monkey or cat. - Pulcinella Pulcinella is a malicious servant (male or female) or innkeeper who comes from Naples. He enjoys seeing other people in pain. His mask has a very distinct hooked nose. Pulcinella literally means ³little chick² in Italian. - Smeraldina Smeraldina (also known as Ricciolina, Columbina, Franchescina) is the maid servant. She is quite a smart woman and usually works for either Dottore or Pantalone. She wears no mask. She is in love with Arlecchino. THE CAPITANO: - Il Capitano Il Capitano is a foreign soldier usually from Spain or France. He likes to boast a lot but, inside he is a coward. His mask has a very long nose. An animal association is the rooster. THE YOUNG LOVERS: - Innamorati The two lovers (female: Isabella, Rosaura, Flaminia, Vittoria and male: Silvio, Lelio, Orazio, Flaminio, Vittorio) are usually the children of Dottore and Pantalone. They are often secretly in love against their fathers wishes. They wear no masks. An animal association is the peacock. They come for the region of Tuscany. ^back to top^ RESOURCES Books: Commedia Dell'Arte Ducharte, Pierre L., Dover Books, Paris 1955 The Commedia Dell'Arte Orgeglia, G., Metheun &Co, 1968 Scenarios of the Commedia Dell'Arte Scala, Flaminio Lazzi Gordon, Mel Commedia Scene Study Rolfe, Bari Commedia Dell'Arte:An Actor's Handbook Rudlin, John Images: Masks made by Amleto Sartori or Donato Sartori (Padua, Italy) Masks made by Antonio Fava Drawings of the Commedia by Jaques Callot Drawings of the Commedia by Maurice Sand (Beautiful series from around the 1800's) Plays: by Carlo Gozzi by Moliere by Dario Fo by Carlo Goldoni - Servant of Two Masters and any of his early plays by Shakespeare - Merchant of Venice (Shylock), Midsummer Night's Dream (The rude mechanicals), the jesters and fools, lovers, etc Also FYI: Dario Fo's Tricks of the Trade Modern Clowns: Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, John Ritter, Kramer TV sitcoms of today, have a look at the characters ^back to top^ IMAGES
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