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.<\/p>\n
The Italian Comedy, better known as commedia dell’arte,\u00a0<\/em>was the primary form of theater in Europe during the Renaissance. This alone is not why we teach commedia. <\/em>Infinite genres have been critical to the time in which they were created\u2014melodrama, neoclassicism for example\u2014but we don’t pay much attention to those genres these days. What makes commedia<\/em> different is the direct line we\u00a0can draw from it\u00a0to contemporary comedy. \u00a0It’s impact on Western Theatre as a whole is nearly impossible to quantify.\u00a0Shakespeare, 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n So what is commedia<\/em>, 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<\/em> does not mean “art” but rather translates to “guild” or professional organization. Commedia dell’arte<\/em> 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.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Passing traditions down from generation to generation, commedia<\/em> 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 \u00a0based on familiar scenarios. These satirical, forward-thinking, and highly physical performances were crowd favorites.<\/p>\n An instrument called a slapstick was used to help make the outrageous sound of masters slapping their servants (much of commedia<\/em> critiqued the social hierarchy so prevalent in Europe). To escape the political and religious censors, commedia<\/em> actors adapted a type of gibberish called gramalot that helped them\u00a0disguise 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. \u00a0These characters,\u00a0amongst others, graced the European countryside\u00a0for over a\u00a0century.<\/p>\n Over the next few weeks\u00a0students in\u00a0Acting II will use\u00a0the foundations of commedia<\/em> to craft their own scenarios. Check back to see how they use gramalot, physicality, political satire, and stock characters to their advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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,\u00a0was the primary form of theater in Europe during the Renaissance. This alone is not why we teach commedia. … Continue reading Acting II: Exploring The Italian Comedy Part I<\/span>