Tag Archives: fixed masks

Posted on 2016-04-19 by Micke Klingvall

Mask technique in Commedia dell’Arte in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 1)

First of all we must establish that the mask technique is used by every mask in Commedia dell’Arte, consequently also the masks that don’t actually have a mask in their face. That is so all masks are playing in the … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-04-15 by Micke Klingvall

Entrees, sorties and sidelines in Commedia dell’Arte

Some of the special conventions in Commedia dell’Arte are the use of entrees, sorties and sidelines. An entrée always have to be exaggerated and articulate. I don’t just have to be so full of energy that the mask entering the stage … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-04-12 by Micke Klingvall

No 4:th wall in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 3)

We can take in the audience in the performance either as an organism in itself or turn to different individuals in the audience. The show becomes a play between the audience and the masks on stage. In this play the … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-04-07 by Micke Klingvall

No 4:th wall in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 2)

One convention in Commedia dell’Arte is to take of the mask in the middle of the play explaining that a mistake has been made and he will now be repeating the gag or trick or blaming the director/author when a … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-04-04 by Micke Klingvall

No 4:th wall in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 1)

In most theatre today there is an idea that the audience is supposed to sit down passively and don’t disturb the performance. We shut down the light in the house, demand total silence of the audience and then act like … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-03-28 by Micke Klingvall

Tempo or rhythm

Commedia dell’Arte is always fast, it is always moving forward and there are no dead moments in it. Except from the fact that it is comedy and it requires a comedy tempo, it is a consequence of that it is … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-03-25 by Micke Klingvall

Size and visual narrating

It’s important to be seen when playing on the street. Therefore we must be big and distinct in movement. We must always make sure that we communicate on such a large distance that we, not only attract audiences to come … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-03-21 by Micke Klingvall

Grotesque as an acting style in Commedia dell’Arte

The acting style in Commedia dell’Arte is very crude and rough, especially in early Commedia dell’Arte. The masks can be tremendously grotesque; the plots plain vulgar; situations – burlesque. Over time Commedia dell’Arte got more refined, soon it had become … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-03-15 by Micke Klingvall

Distance as acting style in Commedia dell’Arte

Commedia dell’Arte is always played with a sense of distance. It comes from the stylizing of the mask, the size of play, the use of mask, loose phalluses and other deformities of the body, the actor’s energy and the simplicity … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on 2016-03-07 by Micke Klingvall

What we really know about Commedia dell’Arte (Part 2)

Except from the fact that almost all that is written about Commedia dell’Arte from the renaissance is either from what is played in the castles and palaces for nobles and the learned or it is written by priests who had … Read the rest of this entry →

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