Tag Archives: women in comedy

Posted on 2020-05-21 by Micke Klingvall

To play mask

The mask demands in itself vast energy. If the actor doesn’t “fill” the mask it doesn’t come to life. Everyone who has seen an actor act in a mask without the energy it demands, with movements just like ordinary life, … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in Mask theatre | 1 Comment
Posted on 2020-04-30 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita – Music and performance spaces (Part 4)

Commedia Erudita, just as Commedia dell’Arte, was very musical genre. It has also contributed to the birth of opera as an art form, with composers as Orazio Vecchi and Adriano Banchieri and even Alessandro Striggio and Giovanni Croce. As early … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 2 Comments
Posted on 2020-04-22 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita – The gaze upon Commedia dell’Arte and its collaborators (Part 3)

Throughout the sixteenth century there were lots of encounters between the Commedia Erudita with its literary culture and Commedia dell’Arte with its practical know-how. The latter came here to meet the humanistic culture and especially the classic comedies. This contributed … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 2 Comments
Posted on 2020-04-09 by Micke Klingvall

Commedia Erudita (part 1)

As we know the word renaissance comes from French (and the historian and author Jules Michelets in 1855) and means rebirth, referring to principles from ancient Greece and Rome. That goes for the theatre as well, as an important part … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 3 Comments
Posted on 2017-04-10 by Micke Klingvall

What is a mask?

A mask can be anything from a small clown nose to giant heads to be worn on big gantries. It can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between masks and puppets, make-up, costume, even props. I would define a … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in Mask theatre | 2 Comments
Posted on 2017-02-13 by Micke Klingvall

The origins of mask (Part 1 – The hunt)

Masks are developed from hunting. When the hunters were trying to get closer to their pray they dressed in hides and furs from the animals they were hunting. It was not only the looks and the scents from the hunters … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in Mask theatre | 2 Comments
Posted on 2017-01-09 by Micke Klingvall

Carnival and the popular feast (Part 1)

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 church. … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | 9 Comments
Posted on 2017-01-02 by Micke Klingvall

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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Posted on 2016-11-27 by Micke Klingvall

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 →

Filed in 2 Vulgar Comedy | 5 Comments
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