Tag Archives: fixed masks

Posted on 2016-12-29 by Micke Klingvall

Dottore’s prolog

Here comes another prolog. It is a later text from Lo spirit delle maschere (The spirits of the masks) by Giueseppe Petrai written 1901. But it is a good example of a Dottore’s prolog. “Do you laugh because I happened … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-12-12 by Micke Klingvall

Charlatano and the square in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 2)

Off course there has been jesters and actors around all the time despite prohibitions and censorship. It is just that we have no written witness descriptions since it mostly played in the country side for ordinary people who could not … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | 1 Comment
Posted on 2016-12-05 by Micke Klingvall

Charlatano and the square in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 1)

In the marketplace, that had its own popular, unofficial laws impregnated by an atmosphere of freedom from severity; where yelling peddlers, the Cris de Paris and merry citizens “entertained the public in loud swearing duels, rhythmic chants, organized festive performances … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | 2 Comments
Posted on 2016-11-27 by Micke Klingvall

The language of the marketplace

A street vendor starts to call out his products in the square. The peddler in the booth beside him starts to yell out his products even louder in order to be heard and get anything sold. It works well. A … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | 5 Comments
Posted on 2016-11-14 by Micke Klingvall

Grammelot

The onomatopoetic, language mimicking, voice illustrating, sound that Dario Fo calls Grammelot was born in France when the Commedia dell’Arte actors where antagonized by the church in Italy during the counterreformation. They turned to Europe instead, but not only to … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte, 2 Vulgar Comedy, Acting style | 1 Comment
Posted on 2016-11-08 by Micke Klingvall

A Servetta’s prolog

Here is a prolog by a Servetta from Domenico Brunis, from 1621, in my translation from Swedish. This might be one of the most used prologs today. It is one of the few saved prologs that are dramatic and can … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte, Example texts | 1 Comment
Posted on 2016-10-24 by Micke Klingvall

Stage strategies (Part 2)

The second group of strategies he call dividing the stage: Windows are the easiest way to divide the stage. By using windows on the backdrop (as talked about in THE STAGE), where a mask can look out, we work on … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | Comment Now
Posted on 2016-10-18 by Micke Klingvall

Stage strategies (Part 1)

Whether we believe in Commedia dell’Arte as in totally improvised genre or not, there is always an element of improvisation in it. As an actor one can only be in control of two other elements at the same time. One … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 3 Comments
Posted on 2016-10-10 by Micke Klingvall

The Stage

Traditionally a Commedia dell’Arte stage was used to be a banco, made of wood, about two meters tall and not much bigger than a horse driven cart, about 3 x 4 meters. It usually had a simple backdrop and where … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 3 Comments
Posted on 2016-10-03 by Micke Klingvall

Acrobatics as a discipline in Commedia dell’Arte

Acrobatics and slapstick (together with the music) may be the most used discipline in Commedia dell’Arte. They work with symmetries, physical turns or physically exaggerated reactions or positions. Acrobatics is a way to stylize and it is used, just as … Read the rest of this entry →

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