Commedia dell'Arte & Vulgar Comedy

Posted on 2017-03-06 by Micke Klingvall

Vulgar Comedy and the Church (Part 1)

In Rome “the Christian” started to show up as a character in the ancient mime by the time Christianity makes its entry. He soon became one of the most acclaimed, comic roles. The roman mime was mocking the Christian ceremonies, especially the baptism and the communion, but also the Christian martyrs. As soon as the Christianity grows strong and gets power it forbids all forms of theatre. Off course the mime and the jester and jugglers as all Vulgar Comedy survived, but that is another story SEE HERE. One of the church fathers Tertullianus writes in his “De Spectaculis”: -“On the day of doom the actors will cry out louder than in any tragedy”. He also calls the entire splendor that was around the festivities diabolic. Johannes Chrysostomus says unequivocally that jokes and laughter does not come from God but from the Devil: -“a Christian shall be grave, suffer penitence and pain to expiate his sins”.
We must remember that all hate for theatre that the church felt was not just because it was ridiculing the church and that is was immoral. By this time it was not long since Christians were thrown to the lions at the theatre.
One of the reasons theatre was considered immoral and antichrist was its origins in and close relation to pagan and pre-Christian rites. Just the fact that redoing – with masks and dissimulation – coming from God (man was made as an image of God) is a sin and leads man closer to the Devil.
Naturally here is also the claim from the authorities on control over the souls of man. They simply became afraid that if people go in to other roles they will be out of church control.

One of the main reasons the church, after all and much later in the Middle Ages, starts to approximate to the theatre again is that the masses and services were held in Latin Since the fall of Rome the common languages Europe was back to their national languages, and only the learned and the priests understood. So in order to make the ceremonies comprehensible parts of the services became dramatized.
Already during the early Middle Ages theatrical exercises, so called tropes, were intercalated as clarifying ingredients in the texts. These tropes were the embryo to the liturgical middle age drama – the theatre that would grow and revive the European official theatre and give it its form. This was a drama that in no way wanted to amuse or entertain its audiences, but to educate and foster.
One of the earliest tropes is from th1 10:th century in S:t Gallen. A priest comes in dressed as an angel and takes place behind something that is supposed to represent Jesus grave. The three other priests come in dressed as the Marias.
Angel: Quem quiritis, in sepulchro, o Chisticolae? (Whom seek ye in the tomb, O Christians?)
The Maries: Jesum Nazaereum, crucifisum, o coelicolae! (Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, O Heavenly Beings.)
Angel: Non est hic, surrexit, sicut predixit, ite nuntiae quia surrexit de sepulchro. (He is not here, he is risen as he foretold. Go and announce that he is risen from the tomb.)

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Posted on 2017-02-27 by Micke Klingvall

The mask and the actor

The mask demands energy and size. It is all about filling the mask with life. Since the mask is stylized and extends parts of the face or is larger than life, it demands another form of dynamism than the realistic. The mask does not only allow bigger movements – it demands them. Everyday movements kill the masks, since they don’t match the mask.
If we for example wear a Capitano mask with a half meter nose and huge eyebrows or a giant larva mask three times our heads, it is impossible to move as if we were in a realistic play.
It is the body that gives life and expression to the mask. It is not enough that the mask use big gestures. If the mask just stand and wave with arms and legs it does not give life to the mask, it becomes more of a jumping jack. The gestures have to come from the torso and wander out to the limbs. It is really in the torso where life in the mask is born. It is also there that postures and movements are living.
It is just as with the voice in a half mask, it has to come from the torso, or rather the guts in this case. When doing so the posture and movements of the masks help us. We do not need to invent or seek for a voice to the mask. If we find the postures and gestures of the mask from the torso, use high energy and big movements, the voice of the mask will come to us. It is there in the mask.

Because of the necessity to use the body as a vehicle for the mask is also crucial to keep a distance from the audience. If we get to close to the audience they will not only be too scared to see us when they have us in their lap, but they will also not be able to see the body of the mask and therefore the mask will die. All the audience will see is a dead, static piece of leather, paper, wood or whatever the mask is made of.

But we also have to use the mask technique in order to be seen and understood. The mask does not work from all angles. Even though the mask can be used in profile as “a profile image” it cannot show its feelings, desires or objectives. It has to look straight out to the audience. We still look at the face of the mask to see what is inside of him, even though we don’t see the face of the actor. (See HERE). Therefore we use “takes” as a window of the mask. This technique is not really required since most Vulgar Comedy does not the idea of a forth wall.
I have written about this much more rigorous HERE, it is about Commedia dell’Arte but it goes for most masks as well.

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Posted on 2017-02-20 by Micke Klingvall

The origins of mask (Part 2 – From rites to early plays)

As we humans settled down, started to cultivate the earth and become domiciled other rites and festivities started to develop. It was harvest, fertility, initiation or transition rites among other. Those rites demanded more human masks, representing human types such as farmers, youth, age, men and women for example.
Most of those rites were religious and some of the masks moved in to the mysterious. They started to represent Gods, heroes, demons, spirits and so on. This is also when those masks started to be worn specifically by the shamans or other actors. The masks were acted out for an audience in order to serve a purpose, instead of being a part of the playful game of telling about the hunt (See Part 1).

When the masks got more specified the plots started to develop as an effect. What had been more of ritual revels or dramatic rituals turned into more dramatic exercises or even primitive emergent masked plays with a clear storyline.
Even though the plots and the masks got more particularized and refined the mask is always a type. It always is representing something more than an individual person. It is always more than just itself. It can be a kind of people, a God, an occupation, a gender and so on. Just like Pantalone is certainly a specific person with his own characteristics, but he also represents the patriarch, old age, and the old lecher – all in one. It is the exaggeration of the masks that makes him more than just himself.

Consequently masks are derived from hunters mimicking their prey. They become human in rites that first came from the joy of narrating, then in religious and other rites. The humanization gave the rites more of a storyline, which demanded more defined characters of the mask. But the masks still stay a type, like Arlecchino, Santa Claus, Batman or Moomin, not a psychological person.

All masks everywhere have their origins in animal masks.

Here is:
Part 1

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Posted on 2017-02-13 by Micke Klingvall

The origins of mask (Part 1 – The hunt)

Masks are developed from hunting. When the hunters were trying to get closer to their pray they dressed in hides and furs from the animals they were hunting. It was not only the looks and the scents from the hunters that helped them to get closer. They also copied the movements of the animals. That led them to become better hunters as well when they got training from imitating animals.

One of many explanations to the birth of theatre has to do with the lust to narrate. According to the Norwegian theatre professor Jon Nygaard we can find remote, pre-stone age cultures today, where religion or benefits had nothing to do with the development of theatre. They built theatre on the lust for narrating and playing a role.

And as the hunters got better in imitating animals, they developed it into dances and theatrical sketches using the masks to tell the story about the hunt. Later the hunter also got his mask when narrating the hunting stories. And here the first human masks started to develop. We may find these scenes in many petroglyphs from the Stone Age.

Masks were also used in religious rites and ceremonies for good hunting. We are now talking about early totem religions. In other words religions that are not begging a God to fulfill their will, but who are forcing their God, or Gods, to obey their will, it may be a good hunt or later a good harvest. These rituals were festive and involved the whole town or village.The origins from the hunt may also be the reason why there never have been any women anywhere in any tradition conventionally wearing masks, at least not according to Franca Rame. There have been and are a lot of female masks but traditionally they have all been used by men. It is first now since the twelfth century in the western world that woman has started using masks (See HERE).

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Part 2

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Posted on 2017-02-06 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 5 – From the May feast to comedy)

From the material that are available there are lots of examples from primitive sketches to more sophisticated plays that can stand by their own, but have been a specific part of a wedding or another official feast.

Let’s see a few examples. In England there was a parade of suitors to the “maiden”, wish she brushed of in favor to the village idiot. The parade consisted of respected citizens like the lawyer and the sergeant.
The Italian plays – bruscello (meaning maypole) – were simpler but they were attentively modeled. Two rivals, either both are young or one is young and the other one is older, were struggling over a young girl. The struggle could be in form of a debate or a fight that had to be solved before a judge or a mayor. Finally there was dance and a great dinner. From Lucca comes a scene called Rondone e Rosalba, where an old man struggle with a young man over a young girl and the young man wins. Here we also meet characters like Arlecchino, Rosalba’s father and Paggio.
The reason we have so much material from Italy is that there is was considered them as plays more than simply party entertainment.
Il Mercato (the Market) is about the rivalry between a knife sharpener and Laterna, a doctor. They fight about the merchant’s daughter, Beppina. Other suitors comes in, a haberdasher, a calendar trader and a tinman. Finally the knife sharpener wins Beppina, with the help of the servant Brighella.
Gli Amore di Belinda e Milele is about two rivaling hunters, Gerano and Milene, who loves Belinda. Belinda loves Milene, but her father, who gets help from his servant Brighella, wants to merry of Belinda with Gerano. When protests, aggravating circumstances and litany doesn’t help Belinda simply refuse to marry Gerano. Gerano and Belindas father then plans to kill Milene. But Brighella who now is on the side of the lovers, interferes by involving a magician, who takes away Gerano and Belindas father, while Belinda and Milene are marrying. Then the whole thing ends in a feast.

In performances like Il Mercato and Gli Amore di Belinda e Milene it starts getting hard to draw a clear line between what is carnival entertainment and what is already a full comedy. These plays are not directly connected to either the May celebrations or any other feast.

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Posted on 2017-01-29 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 4 – From the May feast to comedy)

The carnival was the only one of the festivals that followed such a strict standard scenario all over Europe. There were also other main characters in the festivities, such as King of Fools, Re de Maggio, Verde Giorio even Robin Hood (even though that was a mistake when the French Robin á wood became known in England and got confused with the Robin Hood from the ballads). These characters were all jester kings but they had no other function than to be subversive and burlesque front figures for the official, wild festivities. There are no proofs that other fest and ceremonies had any regular scenario, like a test, a fight, a trial, an execution or a death.

One exception from this is the may feasts. These had usually a regular structure where the feast started by the king held a procession, gave orders of games, play and dancing. Later he went in to some kind of fight with the devil or another opponent with a painted black face, usually also followed by a clown devil called Buffone. In the end the King died, right after he was resurrected by a comical doctor. The most of the action was carried out by dancing, mostly sword dances or morris dances.

The may feasts were also the time and place for weddings, attendance and wooing. Much about the idea around the May feasts was about to pair the youngster together.
It is also from here the Italian idea to serenade under the window of the loved one came. Often then the girl and her father had a special sign to show if the accepted the proposal, which led to an engagement coming up. In England the young man came and woke up his girl in the morning on the first of May. Then they run out to the forest where they took a branch of a hawthorn. After having played their games of love they went to the village priest to publish the banns.

These games became slowly more and more sophisticated with written dialogs, a given role distribution and a formal/ritual plot. It was still not full-fledged performances, they functioned more as dramatic representations.
An example from Sardinia is Pricunta, and from Naples we have Canzone della Zeza. The first one is a loosely held plot about a group of herds that comes up to a farm to explain that they are missing an especially beautiful sheep. They do it in a written dialog. When the father and the rest of the household is out looking for the sheep, the young men “finds” the girls they have wooed.
The other one is more shapes as street entertainment. It contained both singing and an acted plot and it was played until the eighteenth century in Naples. Pulcinella and his wife, here she is called Zeza, are fighting about a young Calabrian man who wooing their daughter, Tolla. Pulcinella is against the marriage, but Zeza is for and in the end she wins and the young couple get each other.
From the north of Italy, foremost from Veneto, comes a great collection of dramatic exercises under the names of mogliazzi, mariazi or maritazi. They was most about burlesque and improvised parodies on proposals and weddings. In the gallery of characters we find masks from the Carnival and Commedia dell’Arte such as Arlecchino, Brighella, Il Vecchio and so on. Here we can see how ritual exercises transcends to more dramatic forms, even though we don’t see full performances yet.

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Posted on 2017-01-23 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 3 – The structure of the celebration)

The carnival started by electing a king of the carnival, who would rule the town or village through the festivities. It was often the village idiot or someone with low status in the town, usually with a grotesque or diabolic appearance. His task as king was to lead the disorder, mock the authority, order the games and playing and make sure everyone had food and drink after what they have deserved. Often the carnival started by the king – after a day of processions – parading through the streets with his entourage, legislate burlesque rules, changing public servants and office holders to his own followers and generally feasting and riots were called for.

Of all the activities that belonged to the carnival, the begging and stealing of food may have been what is mostly have followed it in to Commedia dell’Arte and other forms of Vulgar Comedy. The entourage of the carnival king went around town begging and stealing food and drinks, followed by ritual fights between thieves and their victims. The turmoil that followed increased the wild energy that was part of the carnival.
In Lombardy for instance the King of Carnival came riding in to town, right after being elected, to drive out the local potentates and gave orders about feast, dance, food and drinks.

Other names for the King of Carnival was for example “Re dei Matti” in Lombardy, “Nunnu” in Sicily, “Charnage” or Pére Chalende” in France and “Lord of Misrule” or “Jack o’ Lent” in England.
In some places there was also a queen or a female antagonist, which usually were just called “Lent”.

Except from that the King of Carnival himself usually was a monstrous or diabolic figure, his suite was, especially in early times, devils, ghosts or other creatures from the underworld. (See the DIAVOLAS) Their function was, since they did not usually take part in more dramatized ceremonies, to create chaos and turmoil by mixing up thins, making noises and rumble around. The suite were never part of the main action. They prepared and assisted it. They also always appeared in groups.
Among the characters in the entourage of the Carnival king we find masks, or the “prototype” to them, like: Arlecchino, Brighella or Pulcinella, il Magnifico and so on. Paolo Toschi have traced all the masks of Commedia dell’Arte from the masks of the carnival. Many of the carnival masks can also be traced to the ancient world.
They always wore masks, and by the oldest masks that have been found we can definitely find demonic traits. Already here we find how the characters are being called “masks” (Italian: maschere) a word that comes from the Medieval Latin word masca, meaning evil spirit. Dante also used the word larvae, meaning the dead.
The mask also had another more metaphysical function. (See MASK) It made the person who wore it into another role, and therefore he could not be held responsible for his actions. For instance in Venice there was a law that forbid persons to carry weapons when wearing a mask, except for the bauta mask that was only worn in order to hide the bearer’s identity.

By the time the carnival started to reach its end, and lent was coming closer, the carnival ended with a symbolic trial against the King of Carnival. He was accused his sinful living, excesses and to have weakened and distorted society. Alternatively it ended with a fray between the King of Carnival and Lent. In Italy these frays were called “contrasti” and in France “débats”. In some places they had a strong literary emphasis and by time they become recognized literary genres. I both these cases the Carnival King lost and were sentenced to death.
But before he was killed he read out his will. It was first of all a list of accuses and lists of sinners and sins committed within the local community, described in a humorous and satirical way and explaining what is weak and sick in society.
The last part – the death of Carnival – was divided into two parts: the execution of the King of Carnival and his funeral.
In Valfurva in Lombardy for example, the citizens hung up a doll representing the Carnival King, to later burn it while shouting “Out with the madman! Death to the Carnival!” Other societies slaughtered an animal instead as scapegoat. In Italy it was mostly a goat, in France a bear, in Asti a turkey and so on. Also the ways to kill Carnival was plenty. He could be burnt, shot, stoned. Sometimes a doll full of candy were made, much like the Mexican piñata. Finally the carnival was buried after a long procession.
When “Lent” was part of the celebration, as antagonist to the King of Carnival, the carnival had even one more event, it was her preparation before the fasting.

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Posted on 2017-01-16 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 2)

The carnival can be derived from ancient Rome and the Saturnalia. It was celebrated in Rome between 17 and 23 of December, up until the 5^th century, to the glory of Saturn, the God. The coming golden age ruled by Saturn where no class differences existed were celebrated.
It was celebrated by giving gifts, total freedom of expression speech and slaves and their masters changed roles. But what is even more related to the carnival is the structure. It is very similar the STRUCTURE OF THE CARNIVAL: there was an elected king of the festivities, a Rex Saturnalis or Saturnalicius princeps, who ruled for as long as the feast lasted and by the end of the festivities he was executed, literally or symbolic.

Similar festivities where everything is turned up-side-down are still celebrated all over the world (and here I also count the European carnival) with different religious or traditional content.
Naturally the carnival was celebrated differently all over Europe. We are talking about a phenomenon that stretched its heyday during the whole medieval times and the renaissance and also was locally formed. But there was a lot of common features. It wanted to destroy everything that was associated with completed and static, that who represented the power, so that it could die and make way for new opportunities. Laughter and the merry feast was the weapons against whatever was restraining life. It was more or less the same structure when celebrating the carnival. Still when we look at the structure of the carnival celebrating we must see it as a generalization.

The word carnival comes – probably – from the Latin fraise carnem levare, “take away meat” or “remove the meat”. The carnival was celebrated from the feast of Epiphany to Shrove Tuesday when lent started. It was the feast that should let people eat and party before lent started and severity sat in.

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Posted on 2017-01-09 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 1)

As we have seen in Charlatano and the square in Commedia dell’Arte the market square and the life in the streets were a form of refuge from the hard everyday life and the oppression of the state and the church. It had a familiar and popular air and a lingo were swearwords, cursing and castigating everything (even the church) were allowed as long as it was executed in a happy and festive atmosphere. The carnival was celebrating life itself through the re-creating and the resurrection of spring. Everything old and dead, all order and power (that represents the static and permanent – therefore the dead) and all seriousness (the always talk the language of the power) were heckled and thrown away. Consequently the carnival was the merriest and the wildest of festivals.

The carnival was also always playing on the limits of the law, even though the people had special rights during the carnival from an otherwise hard and totalitarian society. That was about freedom of speech, the right to eat meat, freedom from work, the right to wear a mask and so on.
An eyewitness from the theological faculty in Paris, as early as 12 mars 1444, complains to the bishops and the capital chapter in France about how the burgess and the lower clergy are amusing themselves in the church during the feast of fools. (Translated into English by E.K. Chambers.):

“Priest and clerks may be seen wearing masks and monstrous visages at the hours of the office. They dance at the choir dressed as women, pandars and minstrels. They sing wanton songs. They eat black puddings at the horn of the altar while the celebrant is saying Mass. They play dice there. They run and leap through the church, without a blush at their own shame. Finally they drive about town and its theatres in shabby traps and carts; and rouse the laughter of their fellows and the bystanders in infamous performance, with indecent gestures and verses scurrilous and unchaste.”

Another part of the popular feast was what Bachtin calls the language of the marketplace. Curses were an important part. They were mostly aimed at specific living persons. It could be the official persons of the town, old men with young wives or those married without children. The carnival celebrated first of all life in itself and those who are all in some way representing that that wants to suppress or deny life. But the curses where also ambivalent and familiar in the same way as we can call a friend “you old bastard” in a friendly way, or even to in order to confirm friendship.
Janus – the double faced god – was also the god of the carnival as a symbol for the ambiguous, the multifaceted, the undefined…

When I write about the Carnival and the popular feast, as a part of Vulgar Comedy and its influence over Commedia dell’Arte, I also include church festivities such as: Christmas, Easter, the Feast of the Ass, the Feast of Fools and so on. Also pagan rituals like the May feasts and other fertility rituals, the Midsummer Feast, the Harvest, New Year’s celebrations etc. and personal feast days like birthdays, weddings, even state celebrations like: victory processions, crownings, official weddings and so on may be included.
All of these festivities and celebrations are somewhat related, as will can see HERE. They are celebrated much in the same way, with primitive performance, dramatized ceremonies and/or rituals. They are all parts of the roots to Commedia dell’Arte with their characters, structures, and special freedoms.

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Posted on 2017-01-02 by Micke Klingvall

The life among Commedia dell’Arte companies

Commedia dell’Arte was a very pragmatic art form. The purpose for the actors to act was simply to amuse their audiences, make money, and reach a better social status. But that didn’t make it dull or futile. It was just that the romantic ideas of art as something more elevated, where the actor should be driven by “higher” visions and ideals was not yet invented. It came first by the end of the nineteenth century.

If we look at the first contract among professional actors that we have (from 1545 by the company “Maphios” in Padua, Italy) we can see an almost socialistic collective under the direction of a capocomico, whose responsibility it was to lead and prepare the rehearsals. They shared all the money they earned equal and they even had put aside some money as insurance if anyone of them got ill. If they were to spend any of the money it had to be a consensus agreement.
In the contract there is also an item preventing actors to leave the troupe while the contract was valid.
This contract also indicates that this was not the first contract for a group of actors. It shows that it was already a functioning tradition to live under the mentorship of a wealthy protector and preventing actors to leave for other companies shows us that there were already other companies established.

Some actors where freelance as early as the mid-fifteen hundreds, while others jumped from company to company. They could also work alone, join smaller constellations or create temporary companies.

The competition among companies was tough and it was not always fair.
The name “dell’Arte” also means “by guild” (See HERE). And as in many cases nowadays (at least in Sweden) the guild’s or actors union’s aim is as well as to help the actors within their trade to minimize competition from companies outside their own guild. They worked to get a monopoly on the best squares or towns where they were, and they did not hesitate to throw out competing companies.
The rich and more famous companies were not so considered about the rules. They had connections higher up in society and were able to use them. Here is a quote from a letter to Don Pedro Enriques, duke of Milano from the actress Isabella Andreini:
…”if they now have planned to raise a stage in the public square to play a comedy, or rather disfigure it, I ask you therefore to write to Signore Podestà and ask him not to approve to it.”

Even if the actors of Commedia dell’Arte were professional most of them could not live solidly on their acting. They had to – much like actors to day – be a Jack of many trades, like organizing public feasts, Musicians, private teachers or help the duke with public relations. Even a famous actor like Flaminio Scala worked for a while as perfume dealer.

Other related posts about Commedia dell’Arte is:
The content in Commedia dell’Arte
The roots to all popular western comedy
Acting styles in Commedia dell’Arte

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Commedia dell'Arte & Vulgar Comedy

Vulgar Comedy and the Church (Part 1)

The mask and the actor

The origins of mask (Part 2 – From rites to early plays)

The origins of mask (Part 1 – The hunt)

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 5 – From the May feast to comedy)

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 4 – From the May feast to comedy)

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 3 – The structure of the celebration)

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 2)

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 1)

The life among Commedia dell’Arte companies

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