Part of the Drama One Curriculum

Commedia Dell'Arte

Created by Karen Loftus

Students will discover, analyze, and explore the history, characters, and style of commedia dell’arte.

Commedia dell’arte is a theatre history unit mixed with improvisation, physicalization, and exploring specific characters. In this unit, we’re going to focus on three main aspects:
1. Causes and Effects of Commedia (History)
2. Stock Characters
3. Commedia Performance Practices

Unit Overview
The overview lays out the structure of the unit, including objectives, materials list, lesson structure and assessment and time management tools.
Additional Attachments
1: Introduction
Students begin their exploration of commedia dell’arte with some facts about the era and participate in some exercises that realize the concepts of the era.
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2: Stock Characters
Students continue their exploration of commedia dell’arte with an introduction to “stock characters” and learning how to implement a character walk.
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3: Stock Character Walks
Students continue their exploration of commedia dell’arte by practicing the specific character walks of Arlecchino, Pantalone, and Capitano.
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4: Lazzi
Students learn about different commedia lazzi and create their own.
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5: Unit Project
Students will be able to take everything they’ve explored about commedia and create a simple scene.
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Standards Addressed

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