Commedia dell’Arte

Commedia dell’ Arte today: a powerful training system for actor training
Masks: body, voice, rhythm to give form and sound to the emotions

Commedia dell’ Arte , also known as Commedia all’ Italiana (Comedy in the Italian style)  is a form of highly stylized  comedy theatre, an  extraordinary synthesis of popular and refined entertainment which developed in Italy from  the 16th Century and  gained huge popularity throughout Europe.  It is characterized by unique theatre techniques: verbal and physical improvisation,  lazzi (comic routines), storytelling, “grammelot” (the international language of the masks), self devised “scenari ”(plots). It is universally known for   stock character masks such as Arlecchino, Pantalone, Dottore interacting on stage with unmasked characters such as the Innamorati and Colombina. Success of Commedia was given by the creative mixture of all the above mentioned elements in a new form of art never seen before in Europe, new and  exciting as jazz music would be in XXth century.

The legacy

Commedia dell’ Arte is crucial in the history of theatre as the first form of professional theatre including women actors. From the XVI Century onwards the Commedia dell’ Arte style has had a lasting effect on popular entertainment: from vaudeville to pantomime, from slapstick silent movies to cartoons, sit coms and stand up comedy; from opera to  musical. Commedia dell’ Arte has inspired theatre and music practitioners as diverse as Shakespeare, Mozart, Brecht, Pirandello, Dario Fo, Robert Wilson. The  Commedia  techniques  are the foundation of modern  actor training systems developed by  Copeau, Meyerhold, Lecoq. Commedia dell’ Arte and  mask techniques  are considered essential for the formation of actors and directors worldwide and are a  basic subject across the curricula of the major Western and Asian theatre and contemporary  circus schools.

Teaching Commedia dell’Arte and mask techniques

I integrate traditional Commedia dell’ Arte  and mask techniques with contemporary actor’s training practices and  a  system of rigorous exercises  of physical and emotional  awareness.  The aim is to nourish the performer’s creativity while giving solid professional tools: strong physical and vocal skills, knowledge of character, timing, comedy and  improvisation skills . Emphasis of  my  teaching and directing Commedia and masks  is on  craft, truth, precision of gesture and movement, energy, ensemble work, strong relationship with the audience.