Commedia Dell'arte

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Dive into Commedia Chekhov! This lively adaptation by Lindsay Price introduces your students to Anton Chekhov through the vibrant, over-the-top world of Commedia dell’Arte. Featuring The Proposal, The Anniversary, and The Bear, these short plays blend classic Commedia traits with themes of love, money, and hunger—perfect for classwork, competitions, and showcases! Let's hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play?I love "what if" questions when I write plays. So, what if a realist playwright was combined with a highly physical stock character form? As a writing challenge, I wanted to explore both worlds and find out how they fit together. Where are they on the same page? Surprisingly, there is a lot of overlap. Can Chekhov be played through the lens of commedia? It’s been a great experience and I hope you feel the same! 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences?Commedia is all about love, money and hunger and all three themes come up in each of the plays in Commedia Chekhov to the extreme! 3. What's the most important visual for you in this play?The physical extremes all the characters go to to get what they want. My favourite example in The Proposal when all three characters use the "good chair" to demonstrate status or thrust status on someone else. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be?I encourage and strongly suggest you and your students read the stage directions. Normally, I’m a strong advocate of writers putting what they want presented on stage in the text. If it’s in the text then it’s in the character and the story. But rules are always meant to be broken and in this case, the stage directions will give your students some inspiration into how they can physicalize the characters within a commedia context. For example, there are a number of lazzi in the script and they are entirely written in the stage directions.  The physical is the most important element of these characters and that won’t always come out in the text. Can your students and should your students find their own interpretation? Of course! But the stage directions are going to give you a good running start.  5. Why is this play great for student performers?If you study commedia dell'arte as part of your curriculum, this play would be an excellent opportunity to explore the character aspects of commedia and character physicalization with your students. 6. Who is your favourite character in the play?Merchutkina from The Anniversary is not a commedia master (vecchi) type character (the ones who generally have power) but she is high status from beginning to end. She never gives up. She never lets someone who “seems” higher status have the upper hand. She would be SO much fun to play! 7. What is your favourite line in the play?Merchutkina spends the play trying to get her husband's money and she tries everything and anything to do so. When she's called out for lying about the fact that she said she was an orphan she says: "I’m an emotional orphan. This is triggering!"

*Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. * The Scarlet Heart by Allison Williams is an excellent introduction to commedia for any student performer. The script can be performed as written or by following an improv-based scenario. The Scarlet Heart is a gem! Literally. A big fat juicy apple of a ruby that everyone really, really wants and will do anything to get. Too bad there’s not one competent thief in the bunch. Stupino! That’s a soup ladle! Stop making goo goo eyes at the soup ladle! Join Arlecchino, Brighella, Columbina, and more in their hungry, thirsty, bungling, cross-dressing quest for the Scarlet Heart. Why did we publish this play? It’s one thing to study commedia dell’arte as a theatre history unit. It’s another thing to get right into the “heart” of the form and try commedia for yourself! We were thrilled to be able to offer a commedia play that fits both the stage and the classroom. The Scarlet Heart is a fantastically fun and practical way into commedia, written specifically for student performers. Let’s hear from the author!1. Why did you write this play? I taught commedia for a long time, and there aren’t a lot of commedia scripts that are funny for a modern audience. Plus, I loved the idea of giving both a scenario and a script, and letting schools decide how much improv and how much student-created comedy they wanted to incorporate. So it’s like getting to do a traditional commedia, but with training wheels so it’s not overwhelming. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. There’s no honor among thieves, but if you stay focused on what you want, you might get what you need. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? Everyone stacked up hiding in the closet. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Play it fast and snappy – anything you’re going to do memorized, have it cold so you can move with the pace of the comedy. Get comfortable talking directly to the audience and breaking the fourth wall. 5. Why is this play great for student performers? There are so many opportunities in interactive theatre and non-fourth-wall theatre, this is a great chance to practice those skills. Plus, for students who will do any sort of public speaking, this is good practice for feeling comfortable hosting an audience, not just performing in front of them, but actively making them part of the experience.

Commedia dell’arte is a style of theatre that was popular in Italy during the 1500’s. It was recognized for being comedic, improvised, and having clear elements: • Stock characters including servants (zanni), masters (vecchi), and young lovers (innamorati), who were easily recognized by their movements, look, and mannerisms • Performances based on scenarios with mostly improvised themes (generally either love, money, or food) • Use of mime, movement, music, and masks to tell the story • Lazzi, which are comedic physical “bits” or jokes within the story Commedia dell’arte is a lot of fun for students to explore. They get to be funny and over the top, while working within the limits of their characters and the scene. The movements are exaggerated, melodramatic, and active. Each character willr eact differently to something occurring in a scene, depending on that character’s stock traits. However, no matter what character a student is playing, the goal is to make the audience laugh – you really can’t go overboard with commedia! Lazzi, as mentioned above, are comedic physical “bits” or moments within story. They’re added to commedia performances to highlight a character. Traditionally, commedia performers would have lazzi memorized so they could insert them whenever needed. Audiences would instantly recognize lazzi because they’re physical, familiar, and funny. Physical bits and jokes are still used in modern theatre, film and television today! Think of silly “bits” that garner the canned laughter on sitcoms, such as: • A butler saying “Walk this way” and the guests walk exactly the same way the butler walks. • A phone or the doorbell rings, a character finds out it’s his/her mother, and frantically hides. • Someone tries to hide by pretending to be a statue or putting a lampshade on their head. • Someone eats a cob of corn or piece of watermelon like a typewriter, from left to right, and then snaps back to the beginning. • Twins switching places to try to get out of a problem and then end up getting into bigger trouble than before. How can you put together a lazzi?First, you’ll want to learn more about the stock characters involved in commedia, which you can read about here. Every commedia character’s lazzi will be different, even in a similar situation. For example, let’s say a character opens up a door and another character jumps out and yells, “Boo!” – a lazzi of surprise. • An innamorata (the young lover stock character) might drop her handkerchief and faint to the floor. • A servant character like Arlecchino ttrickster servant) might gasp and leap away into a back somersault. • A master character like Pantalone (old miser) might clutch at his heart and pretend to have a heart attack from the shock. All those reactions are recognizable and specific to the character. The most important thing is that the reaction has to be specific and over the top, with multiple steps. Pantalone can’t just drop to the ground – he might first start by jumping back, pausing and posing with a look of terror, then grab his heart, then start shaking, then fall to the floor, then call for help and go into great detail about the pain and fear he’s experiencing. Specific and over the top with multiple steps. Try creating your own lazzi of surprise. Have students try the scenario with over the top actions and comedy as caricatures of themselves. Once they understand the concept of over the top movements and reactions, they can explore performing as a specific commedia character, or performing the same scene three times – as a master character, as a servant character, and as a lover character. When creating your own scenarios, have the character do something mundane – brushing their hair, reading the newspaper, eating a piece of fruit – then SOMETHING HAPPENS! (Their hair gets caught in the brush, they read something shocking in the paper, they choke on a little bit of fruit…) Come up with 5-7 reactions that occur one after another, getting more and more ridiculous. For example, with the hair-brushing scenario, the character might react the following way: 1. They realize the brush is stuck. 2. They try to gently untangle the brush, with no effect. 3. They pull on the brush harder, with visible pain. 4. They yank on the brush with both hands, panting from the effort. 5. They lay on the floor, pull on the brush with their hands and feet. 6. They call for a friend to come help, the friend enters but still can’t pull the brush out. 7. With the final pull, the brush comes free and either flies across the room, or takes the hair with it (either mimed or with a wig), or doesn’t come free and the character is resigned to leaving the brush stuck in their hair forever. Remember, all movements and reactions have to be exaggerated. Don’t forget details like facial expressions and verbalizations!

Commedia dell’arte is an improvised comedic theatre form that flourished in Italy in the 1500s. The exact origins of commedia are fuzzy and hard to pin down; there is not much documented previous to the 16th century. The term itself wasn’t commonly used until the 18th century. It is generally acknowledged that the form solidified in Italy in the 1550s and reached its peak in the 1650s. But despite an opaque history, the elements that define commedia are quite clear: • Improvised performances based on scenarios: Actors worked off a base outline and made up their lines. • Stock characters: The characters were always the same; only the situations changed. • Limited themes: Love, money, or food were the base of almost every scenario. • Use of mask: The mask defined the characters. • Use of lazzi: Short comedic physical bits within the story. • Use of mime, acrobatics, and music. So why should you include a commedia unit in your curriculum? It builds strong physical acting skills.Commedia dell'arte is highly physical and expressive. Because the style relies on stock characters and masks, actors must communicate emotions through posture and movement rather than facial expressions. Students learn an exaggerated style of character physicalization, clear body language, spatial awareness, and comedic timing — all great skills for a well-rounded actor. It strengthens improvisation.Commedia performances were built around loose story outlines (called scenarios), not full scripts. Commedia scenarios actually provide a pretty safe improv experience for students: Actors play characters who never change and have very set behaviours, wants, and physical movements. Students will always have a clear picture of how their character will respond in any improv moment. Commedia will give students the opportunity to practice foundational acting skills like thinking on their feet, listening, and reacting. It teaches character archetypes.Commedia characters don’t change. There’s no character arch or subtext. In every scenario or story they’re in, the characters remain the same. They have the same attitude, same look, same drive, same physical action. They never learn from their mistakes! These characters are called “stock characters,” also known as character archetypes. They are a type of character (e.g., the clever servant, the lover) rather than realistic or three-dimensional. The chance to play an archetype offers a unique experience for students as each character has a defined stance, walk, behaviour, and mask. Also, once students recognize the traits of the different characters, they’ll be able to look for these patterns in modern TV, film, and theatre. Many modern comedic characters can trace their roots back to commedia. It connects to theatre history.Commedia dell’arte began in 16th-century Italy as a response to the tight controls of the Catholic Church. It’s interesting how the characters in commedia who we would think have all the power (the Masters: Pantelone, Dottore, Capitano) are the most foolish and those who we would think to be powerless (the Servants: Arlecchino, Columbina) are the most clever. Status is a huge concept in the relationships in commedia. Learning theatre history helps students see how historical performance styles shape contemporary theatre. It’s fun and accessible!Commedia is bold, playful, and exaggerated. It’s not just an old theatre form, it's the foundation of modern performance. And you may even engage your shy students by using masks to commit fully to a character.

This week on Spread the Love, Lindsay Price and Allison Williams talk about The Scarlet Heart, a commedia dell’arte comedy for high schools by Allison Williams.