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George Escobedo

H. Martin

Drama 1310

08 Nov. 2015

Italian Renaissance Drama and Commedia dell’Arte

Introduction: The Italian Renaissance was a period of time that spanned from the late fourteenth

century to the beginning of the seventeenth century. It was a time of humanistic thinking where

man started to look away from the church to find answers to the questions of the universe, as

well as to find artistic beauty. The Renaissance or Rebirth period is widely known for its

scientists, inventors, and even artists. Even though it is often over looked due to the other great

achievements of the era, the Renaissance period was also a developmentally critical period of

time for the theater. New types of theater were developed, older techniques were laid to rest,

great actors and troupes emerged, and new architecture and technology helped to advance the art.

I. A new brand of theater began its development in the beginning years of the Renaissance

period and has come to be known as Italian Renaissance Drama. These productions

signaled the end of the older Roman ways of producing theater. Aside from putting an

end to older staples of theater, such as the Roman chorus, these dramas spread the ideals

of the neoclassical production. This new outlook on pieces both old and new focused on

a more humanistic telling of tales, as well as the literary theory behind the classical works

of such influential artists as Aristotle and Horace. Devoid of the interference of the

supernatural element in their productions, artists were able to focus on truth and realism.

These tales greatly stressed reality and were often used to convey lessons in morality.
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Unfortunately, the dramas of the Italian Renaissance were greatly overshadowed by their

comedic cousins and none made it to a level to be considered truly important. They did

however, open the way for great dramatists of the seventeenth century.

II. Another, more widely known type of theater also developed during the Renaissance.

This new theater was called Commedia Dell’arte. This name referred more to type of

performance rather than genre of the play, and loosely translated means unwritten or

improvised drama. A story was developed for each play, however, rather than have each

line for each actor prewritten, the actors were given the opportunity to improvise. The

actors were given a general outline or plan for the main events of the play. They were

then were allowed to arrive at those points on their own, based the particular type of

character that they played. The types of characters were broken down into three main

categories; the Il Vecchi, the Il Zanni, and the Gli Inamorati. The Il Vecchi, or old men,

were divided into the miserly and lecherous Pantalone, the know-it-all Dottore, or doctor,

who actually knew nothing, and the Capitano who was a braggart soldier who was

usually a coward deep inside. The Il Zanni were the servants of the play and they were

categorized into the Arlecchino or harlequin trickster who usually knew more than other

characters in the play, the Brighella or tough guy, and the Columbina or “little dove” was

often a maid who was usually the flirty, wise cracking confidant to the leading lady. The

Gli Inamorati were the young lovers. Despite being the leading roles, their purpose was

to push the story along more than anything, and the true entertainment aspect of the play

was to see how the other characters interacted with these young lovers. All characters,

except for the Gli Inamorati, wore masks distinguishing the different types of characters.

Actors tended to specialize in one type of role for their entire careers and could attain a
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high level of fame if they could distinguish themselves. Actors traveled throughout

Europe in Companies or Troupes. These troupes traveled with all the personnel needed

to put on a production and could also become quite famous, particularly if they had a

famous actor among them. Some companies became so popular that they were called

before the royal courts of such countries as England, Spain, Bavaria, and France to

perform. The Gelosi, ran by Francesco and Isabella Andreini, performed from 1568 to

1604 and was possibly the most famous Commedia Company. There was also the

Desiosi, established in 1595, who were quite popular and home to the famous Arlecchino,

Tristano Martinelli. Commedia Dell’arte had a significant influence on European theater

due to the archetypes that it established. As a matter of fact, many of the characters of

modern film and television can trace their roots to these archetypes. Characters like the

hyper-intelligent scientist with no common sense or the butler or maid that seems to be

more clued in to the goings on than their employer.

III. The Italian Renaissance had more gifts to offer theater goers than just new types of plays,

it introduced new technology and architecture to the art. The most influential technology

came in the area of scene design. One of the most important advancements came in the

invention of the chariot and pole system. Invented by Giacomo Torelli, this system

involved the use of scenic, painted wings attached to wagons, on tracks, under the floor

by poles. The wagons were rigged to an intricate pulley system that allowed a person to

pull on a rope, and have new wing roll onto the stage while another was rolled off. This

invention allowed for easier and more efficient scene changes which also meant that there

could be more changes. This system can still be found in use at some of the older

European theaters such as Drottingholm Theatre in Sweden. As far as architecture goes,

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the Italian Renaissance saw the development of what could arguably be called one of the

most important advancements in the history of theater; the Proscenium Arch Stage. The

use of this arch on the theatrical stage meant that the entire audience would see the play

from only one angle, framed by the arch itself. The arch created a barrier between the

actors and spectators and gave the viewers a sense of peeking into the lives of the

characters. Although it has been modified throughout the years, this type of theater can

still be seen in use today at locations like the Teatro Farnese in Parma Italy.

Conclusion: The advancements in theater that occurred during the Italian Renaissance are

sometimes overshadowed by the amazing paintings, sculptures and inventions of the period.

This is unfortunate, however, because these theatrical advancements had a very significant

impact on their art form over the next two hundred years and even helped to shape modern

theater.