Commedia dell'arte

Our new unit is Commedia dell'arte, this at form of theater which is believed to be made back in the 16th century in Italy. This form of theater is known to use masks. The closest translation is 'comedy of craft' this form of theater is revolutionary for improvisation and comedy.Most Commedia dell'arte scenarios are based on the stock characters:

In this hierarchy you can see who is the king and who is the peasent.The first character is

Zanni:the peasent of  Commedia dell'arte, he is the most hated character by the other stock characters, how ever the most symphsised  character in the whole of Commedia dell'arte.

Captain: he is the second lowest however sen to be a hero, however he ascts he is all big when he gets in a fight he wimpers out of it

Brighella: He is the head of the servants, he is not stupid as Zanni therfore promoted to head servant, he is very devious and he has known to murder to get his own way

Harlequino: he is the brother to Brughella however the opposite, he listens to Magnifco but no one else, he is always hungry and is described to be a party animal

Columbina: she is connected to everone somehow and she doesnt wear a mask, she likes to to be flirty to get her own way

Pantolonie: he is a retired Magnifco, who is known toi be very grouchy, he is bestmates with doctore, and he also likes to protect his oney pouch

Doctor: He is described to know everthing but yet to know nothing, he also argues a lot with Pantolonie, he also knows how to use poison

1st actor and actress: they also dont wear mask, they are like Romeo and Juliet however they never touch eachother they are normally the son or daughter of Pantolonie and Doctor

Magnifco: he is the boss, he can do anything he wants, he's known to be cruel especially to Zanni

This heirachy is very important to any show put on any show with the style of Commedia dell'arte. This type of thatre is what created comedy, they normally spoke in gromolote so anybody can understand them.

Gromolote is a made up language the main point of it is to use words to express emotion. Therfore anyone can understand what they are saying.Commedia dell'arte needs to be over the top to show the audience what is happning.