Ever wondered where the words pants, slapstick, and harlequin come from? Today students in Acting II took a look at the Italian Comedy of the Renaissance to find out.

The Italian Comedy, better known as commedia dell’arte, was the primary form of theater in Europe during the Renaissance. This alone is not why we teach commedia. Infinite genres have been critical to the time in which they were created—melodrama, neoclassicism for example—but we don’t pay much attention to those genres these days. What makes commedia different is the direct line we can draw from it to contemporary comedy.  It’s impact on Western Theatre as a whole is nearly impossible to quantify. Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball, Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, and Louis C.K. all have connections of one kind or another to commedia.

So what is commedia, exactly? With the explosion of free-thinking in the Renaissance, court jesters and troubadours began to travel the countryside performing and eventually creating small theatre groups or guilds. Arte does not mean “art” but rather translates to “guild” or professional organization. Commedia dell’arte means professional comedian. Who wouldn’t want that title? (Extra exciting is the fact that women were not only allowed on the stage, but they held leadership positions in the guilds.)

Passing traditions down from generation to generation, commedia performers were experts in their field. They lived on the road and set up in town squares, making sure they were good enough to distract people from their business in the market. Their characters were familiar to their audiences, but that doesn’t mean that the performances were stale. They were improvised  based on familiar scenarios. These satirical, forward-thinking, and highly physical performances were crowd favorites.

An instrument called a slapstick was used to help make the outrageous sound of masters slapping their servants (much of commedia critiqued the social hierarchy so prevalent in Europe). To escape the political and religious censors, commedia actors adapted a type of gibberish called gramalot that helped them disguise subversive ideas. Actors wore masks specific to their roles to help audience members recognize familiar characters. Pantalone, known for his giant red pants, was always trying to make a buck selling off his daughter to be married. Il Capitano was showing off about a conquest of one kind or another. And poor Arlequino was just trying to survive.  These characters, amongst others, graced the European countryside for over a century.

Over the next few weeks students in Acting II will use the foundations of commedia to craft their own scenarios. Check back to see how they use gramalot, physicality, political satire, and stock characters to their advantage.