Tag Archives: renaissance

Posted on by Micke Klingvall

Western bias of the mask

Tweet In the west we tend to think about the mask as something to hide behind, as if it were a tool to hide emotions, intentions or reactions. Nothing can be more wrong. The masks always tell the truth – … Read the rest of this entry →

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Vulgar Comedy and the Church (Part 4 – the Diavolas)

Tweet The Corpus Christi was celebrated with carnival festivities, comical rites and dramatic performances. It was not just the performance it was just as much the feast itself. In the long run people got tired of long serious plays. They … Read the rest of this entry →

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

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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Carnival and the popular feast (Part 2)

Tweet 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 5th century, to the glory of Saturn, the God. The coming golden age ruled … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 1)

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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The life among Commedia dell’Arte companies

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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Dottore’s prolog

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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

Tweet 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 … Read the rest of this entry →

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