2. Commedia Dell’arte started in the 16th century. In this time, It was a dull, quiet time but
when commedia Dell’arte came in, the 16th century was now loud and colorful. It has
been been influenced on all theatre performances today. Professional players travelled
in troupes that travelled around Italy. Commedia Dell'arte is also known and Italian
comedy. The performance venues were sometimes in court venues, temporary stages
and mostly in city streets.
The successful troupes like notably Gelosi and Confidenti performed in palaces which
then led to extensive rewards, for example travelling and becoming famous
internationally. Commedia Dell'arte consists of dance, music and dialogue in a comedy
atmosphere. It has spread all through Europe and is still used in modern living today. As
each of the actors got confident in the theatre production they made up a new sort of
performance where they would agree on a basic plot and a general idea. The humor
was mainly about their failure of trying to stay on the same page with each other even
though they wouldn't’t know what was going to happen next. Commedia Dell’arte
gained many talented actors, some of the well known actors today are called Pantalone,
Brighilla, Il Capitano and Arlecchino.
3. Main characters in Commedia performances
Name: Il’ Capitano.
Mask: fear-like, curly
nose, wide eyes.
Status: Loner.
Characteristic:
swaggery, bold and
Cowardly.
Costume: modified
military.
Mannerisms and skills:
large exaggerated
steps, when running
quick but small steps.
Name: Panatalone
Mask: clown like
Status:
Characteristic:
miserly and mean
Costume: dark
colours such as
black and grey
Mannerisms and
skills: falls
backwards, head like
a chicken.
Name: Arlecchino.
Mask: cat- like.
Status: servant.
Characteristics:
amorous and child-like.
Costume: motley
coloured.
Mannerisms and skills:
acrobat and wit.
