1. Literally means “Comedy of the Artists” (professionals/craft)
Commedia Dell ‘Arte
Implies performances by professionals rather than courtly amateurs
Picture – Commedia Dell Arte’ troupe in a Flemish painting
Literally means “Comedy of the Artists” (professionals/craft)

2. Masks – refers to the actual characters as well as the half masks (not covering the mouth) all but the inamorti (lovers) wore
Mime and gesture were very important
Actors were highly skilled. Could act, sing, play instruments, tumble, juggle, dance
Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario – “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
Italian – began in the mid 1500s - at its height in the early to mid 17th century (1600’s) – continued into the 1700’s
often performed outdoors (town square) for the common people – made fun of the rich and boastfully intelligent,
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).
the companies also rented rooms and performed at court – very versatile, used scenery if available, but just as easily not
Families

3. Improvisation and Stock Characters
Masks – refers to the actual characters as well as the half masks (not covering the mouth) all but the inamorti (lovers) wore
Mime and gesture were very important
Actors were highly skilled. Could act, sing, play instruments, tumble, juggle, dance
Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario –
Improvisation and Stock Characters
Actors worked from a plot outline
–improvising dialogue and action
SCENARIO “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).
Each performer always played the same character that had fixed attributes and costume

4. Mime and gesture were very important
Actors were highly skilled. Could act, sing, play instruments, tumble, juggle, dance
Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario – “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
Masks – refers to the actual stock characters as well as the half masks (not covering the mouth) that all but the innamorati (lovers) wore
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).

5. Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario – “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
Mime and gesture were very important Actors were highly skilled. Could act, sing, play instruments, tumble, juggle, dance
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).

6. How much did they actually improvise?
Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario – “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
How much did they actually improvise?
Each actor played the same character throughout his career
LAZZI (LAZZO) – COMIC BITS – were standardized to the point of being indicated in scenarios (hat lazzo)
Lovers (INAMMORATI) kept notebooks with quotes from popular literature and poetry
Scenes ended with memorized rhymed couplets
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).

7. Stock Characters (Comic Prototypes)
Lazzi – comic bits of business, well known by the audience, each character had specialties
Scenario – “on the scenery” plotline was pinned to the scenery
Stock Characters (Comic Prototypes)
Masked
Masters – Pantalone, Il Dottore, Il Capitano
Servants (Zanni) – Arlechinno, Brighella, Pedrolino
Unmasked
Columbina
Innamorati
Innamorata and Innamorato
The Young Lovers
Karel Dujardin, Commedia dell'Arte show (1657) (Louvre).

8. Commedia Dell ‘Arte Stock Characters

9. The Masters - Pantalone (Pantaloon)
the decrepit old man, hunched over and arthritic, bad eyesight, bad hearing, bad breath, bad teeth, a very rich man but very miserly, often the father of an inamorati, or a lecher that courted an innamorti
Mr. Burns from the Simpsons

10. Il Dottore (The Doctor)
– usually a doctor of law, sometimes of medicine, usually fat, quite pompous, loved to show off his knowledge and pontificate. Famous gesture of 2 fingers raised. A fool in spite of all his knowledge – mispronounces Latin words, usually Pantalone’s friend or rival
Prof. Farnsworth from Futurama
“”Please, old friend, don’t jump. Use another method that won’t damage your liver. Other people need it, you know.”

11. Il Capitano – Spanish Captain, The Captain
the braggart soldier, very boastful and egotistical, loves to show off for the ladies, a coward, so a loner to hide his cowardice
Puss in Boots from Shrek

12. Zanni – 2 to 4 per troupe Can be singular or plural
Generic or the name of an actual mask (character)
Bottom of the pecking order - slow witted servant(s) who often lost things going from master to master
The longer the nose, the stupider the zanni
Gives us zany in English

13. The Servants (Zanni) Arlecchino (Harlequin)
the crafty servant, very witty, dressed in colorful patchwork, a graceful mover, always got the girl. Carried a bat or slapstick
Scuttles from The Little Mermaid

14. Brighella
Always the first Zanni – the boss. On the social scale an inn or shopkeeper, but this gives him high status within the zanni. Can be evil, doesn’t mind bloodshed
Bender Bending Rodriguez from Futurama
Knife prop which he uses to steal money bags Dresses in white with green

15. Columbina (Columbine)
servant girl, flirtatious and attractive, a dancer, graceful, daughter or servant of Pantalone or a Lover
April from Parks and Recreation
Babs Bunny from Tiny Toons

16. Pedrolino (Pierrot)
Simpleminded, a hopeless romantic, lovelorn, starstruck
always reaching for what is just out of his reach (like the moon or the girl), in love with the impossible, unsuccessful lover,
victim of the other servants pranks.
played without a mask
Smithers, Simpsons
Michael Bluth, Arrested Development

17. Innamorati (Lovers) no masks
witty, handsome, well-educated young men and women OR naïve and not too bright
Dressed in fashionable clothes of the day
More interested in “love” than their lover
Fight or bicker, but always get back together
Aware of the audience
Flirt
Ask for advice
Show off
Complain about their problems
Men – Flavio, Silvio, Leandro
Women – Isabella, Aurelia, Emilia
Smithers, Simpsons
Michael Bluth, Arrested Development

18. The Companies had their own set of fixed characters
Stories revolved around intrigue, disguises, cross-purposes
had one or two pairs of lovers – when there were 2 sets, the contrasts were emphasized
sometimes Pantalone was a rival of the innamorato
Il Dottore – Pantalone’s friend or rival
Il Capitano – often the unwelcome suitor
1-4 zanni (servants) Arlechinno was the most popular
A typical scenario - boy loves girl, girl's father disapproves, boy gets girl with the help of a clever servant or two
Smithers, Simpsons
Michael Bluth, Arrested Development