When you are performing as a puppet, or (for commedia) as a masked character– it’s important to remember that the mask on your face is inanimate. It is made of leather or papier mache or some other fixed material that has a fixed expression, a fixed architecture. Despite that, your character is alive, and changes emotions, sometimes at a quite […]
Read moreDuring the mid-1700’s, (over 100 years after Flamino Scala) two commedia performers/playwrights were having a feud over the future of commedia. They were both named Carlo, they were both Venetian, and they both had very different ideas about what made commedia dell’arte special and worthwhile. Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) was for getting rid of the masks and improvisatory nature of commedia […]
Read moreAt one of my alma maters (The Dell’arte School) , one of the school’s rehearsal mantras when a scene or a play isn’t working right is to rehearse it “Italian style.†By this they mean to perform the scene or the play as loud and as fast as you can, and with as much energy as you can muster.  Pedal […]
Read moreSince yesterday we talked about not playing subtext while playing commedia, the question naturally arises- what should you play? Or how are you going to sustain and continue to improvise a heightened expressive character? There are several theories about the best way to play a commedia character, and basically, I subscribe to all of them. What I mean by that […]
Read moreWhen I studied at the Dell’arte school of Physical theatre, our Commedia teacher (Michael Fields) would be coaching a scene or an improvisation and then suddenly say “Ah– the Ghost of Chekhov has entered the room.” This was a short hand way of saying he meant that your performance had descended from a heightened state into naturalism or traditional acting, […]
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Flaminio Scala was an actor/manager of one of the most pre-eminent commedia companies of his time. A contemporary of Shakespeare, he was an innovator in that he actually wrote his scenarios down. Before Scala, scenarios were never written down as they were afraid of being stolen- they were the gold with which you could make hay, and what distiniguished your […]
Read moreGiorgio Strehler was the founder (along with Paolo Grassi) and director of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. Some would say that he is the father of modern commedia. I don’t think I would go that far, as there were a number of disparate Italian groups working after the war that were trying to figure out how to resurrect Italian pride, […]
Read moreDario Fo is one of the most pre-eminent comic writers and performers of our times. He’s written a number of plays that have been performed throughout the world and seem to have a universal appeal. When he performs in Italy, he performs in soccer stadiums– partially because that’s where enough people can come and see him, and partially because he […]
Read moreCarlo Mazzone-Clementi was the founder of the Dell’arte school of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake California. He was a childhood friend of Amletto Sartori, Marcel Marceau’s first touring partner, worked with Jacques LeCoq, and performed with Dario Fo, Franca Rama, and Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. In 1959 he came to the United States to teach commedia, […]
Read moreAfter World War II, the Italian intellectual community was searching for their cultural and historical roots. A number of theatre people started to explore commedia dell’arte, which at that time when it was performed was being done as stodgy museum pieces really devoid of life (think bad Moliere)Â A group of artists, including Giorgio Strehler, Dario Fo, Jacques LeCoq, Marcello […]
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The first place to start to learn about Commedia are books. Amazon lists 325 books under the search “Commedia Dell’arte” You can browse all of those books here: Commedia Books on Amazon Below I pick 6 that I particularly like, and that I think are particularly great for both experts and novices alike.  I welcome your own recommendations in the […]
Read moreWhile it’s not officially Commedia Dell’arte month anywhere else, here on clownlink we’ve declared it officially commedia dell’arte month! This is in honor of the second annual International Commedia Dell’arte Day, which will happen on February 25 this year. In honor of that day, each day this month, we’ll present a link of some sort to something commedia related. We […]
Read moreTwo – Commedia dell’Arte 2010 Summer Workshops from RCCU 1) June 13 – June 25, 2010 in New York NY at Pier Studios in Hudson River Park 2) July 26 – August 6, 2010 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia in conjunction with Southern Virginia University. For the first time in RCCU’s history students will be able to […]
Read moreIn honor of International Commedia Dell’arte day, I took a series of self-portraits with my ibook camera that I am titling “I am My Own Commedia Mask” Masks? I don’t need no stinkin’ masks! :o) I’ve attached the slideshow here. But if you can’t see them because you don’t get flash, visit http://bit.ly/commedia_faces for the FLICKR page.
Read more(Thanks to new papa Brian Foley for bringing this to my attention!) He’ll also be performing at the View Theatre, Roy Arias Studios on Feb 25 in celebration. See the postcard below for details) Associazione SAT has proclaimed February 25, 2010, a worldwide Commedia dell’Arte Day Simultaneous events will occur all around the world as theatre companies, scholars, students, and […]
Read moreThe New York Premiere of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano’s production of Goldoni’s classic work: Trilogia della villeggiatura Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s 1761 three-part satire of the Italian middle class was given new life more than 50 years ago by Piccolo Teatro di Milano’s late founder, Giorgio Strehler. With a nod to Strehler and in the spirit of Goldoni, Italian […]
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