Tag Archives: Teaterstudion

The life among Commedia dell’Arte companies

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 just … Read the rest of this entry

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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The roots to all western popular comedy

I see Commedia dell’Arte as the roots to all western popular comedy. There are naturally roots to Commedia dell’Arte as well, but if we see it as the first professional form of theatre in Europe and if we consider that … Read the rest of this entry

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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

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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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