Author Archives: Micke Klingvall

Posted on 2020-10-15 by Micke Klingvall

A list of actors from the heydays of Commedia dell’Arte

What we will be looking at are the actors from the most famous Commedia dell’Arte groups of its time. It is also those actors we have most and most interesting information about. Let us not believe that they are representative … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-06-10 by Micke Klingvall

Understanding the mask

The task of the mask is to enlarge and, at the same time, clarify the character of the mask/role. We have already mentioned that the masks are representing archetypes, that they are driven by their urges, appetites and desires rather … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-06-03 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia dell’Arte and text

Hearing about how the great Commedia dell’Arte groups trained and prepared their masks, we also hear a lot about how much they read (See example). It doesn’t necessarily mean that they used the texts on stage. It can just as … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-05-21 by Micke Klingvall

To play mask

The mask demands in itself vast energy. If the actor doesn’t “fill” the mask it doesn’t come to life. Everyone who has seen an actor act in a mask without the energy it demands, with movements just like ordinary life, … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-05-13 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia dell’Arte – mocking the power

Also the great famous Commedia dell’Arte group mocked the power, by the dethroning of the old man and by pointing to the static preservation of the society as a representative of the stagnant. We can thank Henry III of France … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-05-07 by Micke Klingvall

A few dogmas, concerning mask acting

To act in a mask is a technique in itself. It means that there is a lot of rules of how to handle the mask. Sometimes they are really helpful, sometimes we find there are just too many guardians of … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-04-30 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita – Music and performance spaces (Part 4)

Commedia Erudita, just as Commedia dell’Arte, was very musical genre. It has also contributed to the birth of opera as an art form, with composers as Orazio Vecchi and Adriano Banchieri and even Alessandro Striggio and Giovanni Croce. As early … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-04-22 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita – The gaze upon Commedia dell’Arte and its collaborators (Part 3)

Throughout the sixteenth century there were lots of encounters between the Commedia Erudita with its literary culture and Commedia dell’Arte with its practical know-how. The latter came here to meet the humanistic culture and especially the classic comedies. This contributed … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-04-15 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita  – The academies and other groups  (Part 2)

During the renaissance the first literary academies were born. They were – and still is – arranged in democratic order. When women were parts of the academies they were equal members. Isabella Andreini was a member of Accademia degli Intenti … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2020-04-09 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita (part 1)

As we know the word renaissance comes from French (and the historian and author Jules Michelets in 1855) and means rebirth, referring to principles from ancient Greece and Rome. That goes for the theatre as well, as an important part … Read the rest of this entry →

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