Tag Archives: Commedia Erudita

Pulcinella tries to convince Zanni to dress up as a Isabella

A scene from “Morens Fånge” or “The Prisoner of the Moor”. That I made with Teater Teatropen in 2002. Zan:                    Are you a little moody today? Hihihi… Pulcinella is cranky.                              Killekille kill Pulcinella turns                              Killekille kill Pulcinella turns … Read the rest of this entry

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Goldoni and the end of an era (Part 2)

When Goldoni did replace the Commedia dell’Arte actor’s improvisations and whims with a ready written text he did not just kill the life in the words that came in the encounter with the audience, ha also changes Commedia dell’Arte into … Read the rest of this entry

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A tribute to life

“It [Commedia dell’Arte] owed everything to the actor, very little to drama or literature. It trained its own players, created its own conditions, travelled with its own costumes and properties, sometimes with portable stage.”                        From “The Theatre – a Concise … Read the rest of this entry

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Commedia dell’Arte – the Name

The term Commedia dell’Arte was not used during the renaissance. It was used for the first time, the way we do today, in the eighteen century by Luigi Riccoboni in his book Histoire du Theatre Italien from 1728. At that … Read the rest of this entry

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To compose a Commedia dell’Arte group in the sixteenth century

To compose a Commedia dell’Arte group was a highly delicate task. Some masks were needed in order to fill out the usual scenarios. But one couldn’t just chose the best actors. One had to think about that the actors should … Read the rest of this entry

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The end of the heydays of Commedia dell’Arte (Part 3)

There are lots of descriptions about how Commedia dell’Arte degenerated even though many are of the type: “everything has changed to worse”. We can see here how the aging Francesco Gabrielli, who had led a good life as actor in … Read the rest of this entry

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The end of the heydays of Commedia dell’Arte (Part 1)

“Acuity and rationalism does not thrive together with lush and warming jocularity, the humor of rationalism easily becomes merciless satire, as in Voltair for example.”                             Harry Järv, in the pretext to The Very Horrific Life of Great Gargantua It is often … Read the rest of this entry

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Desiosi (The Desired) 1581 – 1603

They are first heard of in Pisa 1581.One of the reasons webring up Desiosi is that they were led by a woman, Diana Ponti, and were often called “Dianas Troup”. She was much celebrated and often the main attraction. Diana … Read the rest of this entry

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The wealthy and lucky Commedia dell’Arte groups

Those lucky Commedia dell’Arte troupes that could play in the salons of castles and palaces had their benefactors, usually a duke or a nobleman over a province. For those actors who were educated it was also relatively easy to find … Read the rest of this entry

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The church censoring Commedia dell’Arte ( 1 of 2)

It was not easy for Commedia dell’Arte groups to make fun of religion and the church during the latter part of the sixteenth century, after the Council of Trent 1545 – 1563. It was a lot easier during the middle … Read the rest of this entry

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