Tag Archives: theatrehistory

Posted on 2021-03-22 by Micke Klingvall

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 →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | Comment Now
Posted on 2021-03-16 by Micke Klingvall

Goldoni and the end of an era (Part 3)

During the end of the eighteenth century, when the bourgeois comedy had been well established and taken over the theatre scene, Commedia dell’Arte and the vulgar laughter started to be looked at as something quaint and exotic. As new middle-class … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte, 2 Vulgar Comedy | 1 Comment
Posted on 2021-03-13 by Micke Klingvall

Goldoni and the end of an era (Part 1)

Let us use Goldoni to explain how Commedia dell’Arte died out in the middle of the eighteenth century, with the background we already discussed here in mind. Not that we really can accuse Goldoni for being the killer of Commedia … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 2 Comments
Posted on 2021-03-10 by Micke Klingvall

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 →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | Comment Now
Posted on 2021-03-07 by Micke Klingvall

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 →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 1 Comment
Posted on 2021-03-07 by Micke Klingvall

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 →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 1 Comment
Posted on 2020-12-16 by Micke Klingvall

The theatre spaces in the heydays of Commedia dell’Arte

People went to the theatre of quite other reasons, socially and culturally, all the way up to the nineteenth century. First of all: the lights were not turned down in the auditorium. It was first in the middle of the … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | Comment Now
Posted on 2020-11-18 by Micke Klingvall

Accesi (the Lightened) 1590 – 1628

Accisi had probably existed for a while when we first hear about them in 1590, when they get a permit to play in Brescia.As early as 1583 Pier Maria Cecchini says that he played for Alfonso II d’Este, the Duke … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 1 Comment
Posted on 2020-11-11 by Micke Klingvall

Confidenti (The Confident) 1574 – 1639

The first time we hear about Confidenti is from 1574, during a tour in Cremona, Pavia and Milan. That part of northern Italy was their primary tour territory.Between 1570 and 1580 they were more or less tied to the Duke … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | 1 Comment
Posted on 2020-11-04 by Micke Klingvall

Gelosi (the Zealous Ones) 1568 – 1604

Gelosi was the most famous of the Commedia dell’Arte companies of the time, the superstars of their time. They had a crest, a Janus head, and a motto: Virtù, fama ed honor ne fèr gelosi (Virtue, fame and honor made … Read the rest of this entry →

Filed in 1 Commedia dell'Arte | Comment Now