Italian Renaissance Theatre Drama 1 Fall 2003

When? n The Italian Renaissance was from AD. n The plague was still around, so theatre was not incredibly popular. n As before, it was kept alive by wandering troupes.

New forms of theatre n Opera –Dialogue is sung rather than spoken –Actually a mistaken recreation of the Grecian chorus led to the development of the form of theatre we now know as Opera n Commedia dell’arte –Performed by a troupe of actors that traveled from town to town –Entirely improvised (made up)

Characters in the commedia n All characters were stock characters n There were three main groups of stock characters –The lovers –The masters –The servants

Dottore

The Lovers n The lovers were the only characters that did not wear masks n They were beautiful, well- educated, innocent, noble, and witty n They are often opposed in their love by one or more of the masters

Columbina

The Masters n Il Capitano (The Captain) –a braggart, cowardly soldier who claimed prowess in both love and battle but was often a failure in both n Il Dottore (The Doctor) –a physician or professor who often spouts inaccurate Latin n Pantalone (The Merchant) –a greedy, lustful, meddling man

Pantalone

The Servants n The servants were called zanni. n There were usually at least two servants, typically one smart and one less smart. n The leader of the zanni was Harlequin. n Much of the humor comes from the actions of the servants.

Harlequin

Commedia Design n They were based on scenarios often given by the audience n Interspersed in the action were lazzi, or comic bits n Most of the lazzi were low comedy using physical humor n Slapstick comedy developed and was named after the actual slapstick used to beat characters

Capitano

Commedia Costumes n All characters except the lovers wore masks. –Masks covered only the top half of the face and often had distinguishing features n The costumes were stock (repeated for characters in all scenarios)

Set Design in Theatre n Perspective was used in all theatres including opera. n Scenery was layered to create a three dimensional effect. n The floor of the stage was painted with tiles using perspective to show depth.

More Scenic Inventions n Created a chariot and pole system to enable multiple flats to be moved at the same time. n Stages were raked to create upstage and downstage areas.

Humanistic Theatre n Highly formal. n Was performed by the upper class for the upper class. n Purity of form--tragedies were tragic, comedies were comic and there was NO mixing of the two.

The Rules n Verisimilitude--events in the play must be realistic. n No violence on stage--do not offend the audience. n No low language--do not offend the audience. n Follow the unities of time, place, and action.