Tag Archives: Italy

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 2016-11-14 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 2016-10-10 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 2016-06-07 by Micke Klingvall

Improvisation in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 3)

Much of the art in playing Commedia dell’Arte has to do with being constantly on the alert, always ready to jump in to the action or leave space for another mask. This does not just apply when we are on … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in Acting style | 2 Comments
Posted on 2016-05-28 by Micke Klingvall

Improvisation in Commedia dell’Arte (Part 2)

When I work with Commedia dell’Arte I don’t let improvisation be the most important, even though it still is important. I do this for three reasons; Commedia dell’Arte is played from a plot, even though it is of less importance … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in Acting style | 2 Comments
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 →

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

What we really know about Commedia dell’Arte (Part 1)

No one can say what a Commedia dell’Arte show really looked like in the renaissance. Neither do we know about the relations between the actors and the rest of the population or what is myth and what is true in … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | Comment Now
Posted on 2016-02-26 by Micke Klingvall

Prolog or opening in Commedia dell’Arte

The introduction to a Commedia dell’Arte show in very important. It does not only have to present the different masks so that a modern audience will know them at an early stage in the show, it must also introduce the … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte, Acting style | Comment Now