Tag Archives: stage technique

The Street as Venue (Part 2)

When it comes to Commedia dell’Arte and other masked theatre that are using entrées and sorties we need a backdrop. We don’t want the actors to vanish away in a distance. Since it is easy for the wind to make … Read the rest of this entry

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The Street as Venue

Vulgar Comedy has its roots as street theatre, or at least outdoor theatre. Long before the Greeks began building theatres for their dithyrambs and plays there where Thespis and his cart. One can still trace much of business onstage to … Read the rest of this entry

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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. … Read the rest of this entry

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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

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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

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Music as a discipline in Commedia dell’Arte

The music is off course the most central of all disciplines in Commedia dell’Arte. It is there to heighten the performance and it helps up the atmosphere of feast that is so characteristic in Commedia dell’Arte. I the very first … Read the rest of this entry

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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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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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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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