Commedia dell'Arte

Commedia dell'Arte was a theatrical presentation which was described to be amusing and humorous. Professional players performed as they travelled in troupes in the 16th century in Italy, they often performed in temporary stages such as on city streets and occasionally in court venues. The better troupes such notably, gelosi, confidenti and fedeli gradually become internationally famous after performing in a series of places. Many types of chicanery such as dance, music and witty dialogue all contributed to the comic effects leaving many of its elements continuing into present day theatre. Commedia dell'Arte is a theatrical form which is characterized by improvised dialogue and a cast of l stock characters. The performances were held outside, with minimum use of props and no script as they were funded by donations which made it free too watch. The troupes usually consisted of eight men and two women. Commedia Dell'Arte had wished to move away from naturalism which led them too receive a number of 20th century inspired practitioners. Performances were often based on a familiar story in a scenario a basic plot which actors improvised. The plot usually had the theme of young lovers and their struggles or innamorati whose union is delayed by several elders which is described to be a envious and jealous guardian or aged spouse. Many other popular scenarios involved the theme of adultery and foolish characters, where in which stock characters would include props such as swords proclaiming their war victories. Arlecchino he was one of the most famous he was an acrobat & a wit, he wore a mask that was cat-like & motley coloured clothes he always carried a bat or a wooden sword. Pantalone was a caricature of the Venetian merchant, wealthy & retired, cruel & miserly, he had a young wife and an adventurous daughter. Brighella was a more of a mischievous and stylish character, a weak villain whose aim was to get money no matter how hard it would be. The great commedia dell'arte companies Antonio Fava's 'Internazionale Scuola dell'Attore Comico', where there were excellent quick witted young physical theatre actors, totally spontaneous improvisation frequently resulted to a non-speaking mime, so Fava had to remind them that they could speak. Prepared improvisations, while often radiant physically, were often evenly ordinary in spoken text. Some actors appeared better than others at it. Those from outgoing cultures such as the Australia and USA appeared more laid back about it. There is also a tendency in Physical Theatre to make the spoken text less important to help emphasize the movement, although sometimes with no the kind of consistent vocabulary of gesture, posture and pace which is the essence of commedia dell'arte. This isn't disapproval, it is a type of style which the, Also by opting for negligible spoken text, performers don't make what they do say less worthy of attention. This influences in contemporary pantomime comes from the as the art of using movement and facial expressions rather than spoken words to communicate. The word pantomime

its self can be used for an individual, production or performance. The contention of some that pantomime can only demote to a production is different to both the historical and modern use of the word. In difference to pantomime skills which evolve from dance and circus related acrobatics which is identifiable in the early on silent films, there seems to be an absence of pantomime as an independent modern art form. Most pantomime is currently seen presented within other forms of theatre rather than as an art to itself. Many clowns use essentials of pantomime rather than presenting themselves strictly as a mime. The main dilemma with the travelling Commedia dell Arte shows as that the main actors did not speak very good English as they were Italian. This meant that the scenes from their shows had to be mimed as the audience couldn t understand the language and more singing and dancing was introduced to the shows. Rather than telling jokes, the actors also had to make people laugh with funny actions, chases and mimes, this related to jack in the beanstalk quite a bit because Harlequin character would carry a wooden sword and jack had his own significant signs such as the beans they had different characteristics yet they all linked up somehow, also jack in the beanstalk had insignificant words such as fe fi fo fum because it was better to use mimes than actual sentences. New additions to the play have included a witch, sometime the Giant's mother, and Fleshcreep, a sinister toady who, being more agile than the giant, can do most of his bidding. The Pantomime ends with Jack, now in possession of the Giants treasure, chops down the beanstalk, having slain the giant with his magic sword. Personally i don t think slapstick or pantomimes are still relevant in every situation sometimes words are needed to help make it clearer for people and dance can confuse the plot of the story, but i also reckon mime can help the viewers concentrate as they don t want to miss out on any little piece of key information, as words can easily cover up your concentration. Violence isn t always needed and can sometimes clash with the whole theme of comedy so maybe a little bit of violence but not too much because it could ruin a great story line.

http://www.pantomimes-mimes.com/pantomime-history.html

http://www.therudemechanicaltheatre.co.uk/talk-archive-2.htm

italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800b.htm