Italian commedia dell'arte. Character gallery (35 photos)

Oh, no matter how much I tried to persuade Irina Anatolyevna, she flatly refuses to do a webinar on commedia dell'arte, with which I have so many wonderful memories!

What to do, not always humor, appropriate at the moment, becomes a classic joke that can amuse even through the ages. But the whole dramaturgy of the commedia dell'arte arose from improvisation.

The masks of traditional characters were supposed to surpass the bright masks of the Venetian carnival in some way. It is strange, but in the homeland of this theater, Angelo Beolco, almost unknown to us, is considered the founder. But this theater is more familiar to us from the work of his compatriot Carlo Goldoni, who worked two hundred years later.

The theater existed in an almost unchanged form from the middle of the 16th to the end of the 18th centuries, while having a significant impact on the further development of the Western European drama theater.

The troupes that played the comedies of masks were the first professional theater troupes in Europe, where the foundations of acting were laid (the term commedia dell'arte, or skillful theater, indicates the perfection of actors in a theatrical game) and where elements of directing were present for the first time. These functions were performed by the leading actor of the troupe, called capocomiko(Italian capocomico).

Commedia dell'arte (Italian: commedia dell'arte) is the comedy of masks, a kind of Italian folk (areal) theater. The forerunners of the commedia dell'arte were performances of minstrels and itinerant actors, strong men and clowns, jugglers and conjurers, and even the comic demons from the liturgical drama influenced its development.

It is interesting that in Russia there were also canonical puppet characters. We have one itinerant actor was a kind of man-orchestra. According to Olearius, the actors tied a sheet around their body, lifted its free part up and held it over their heads on poles, thus forming something like a stage. With a folk comedy about Petrushka, who defeated either a priest, or a gentleman, or a doctor, the actors walked the streets, showing puppet shows.

In the commedia dell'arte there was a strict set of masks corresponding to the roles of the actors. The performances were created by improvisation, based on a script containing a short storyline of the performance, with the participation of actors dressed in masks. Also referred to in various sources as la commedia a soggetto (scenario theatre), la commedia all'improvviso (improvisation theatre) or la commedia degli zanni (zanni comedy).

This is a theater that demanded from the actor a well-coordinated performance in the troupe, responding flexibly and accurately to each cue within the framework of the accepted image. The role of the actor here included the development of the dramaturgy of his albeit conditional image, but right in front of the audience, often entering into a skirmish with them.

Geiger Richard "Pierrot and Columbine"

The peak of popularity of the comedy-improvisation with constant characters, moving from performance to performance, fell on the years 1560-1760. The performances were played by professional actors - in contrast to the previous era, when amateurs performed in the theater.

This theater demanded not just a sophisticated professional game, but demanded that the actor immediately pour out jokes, maxims, complaints or philosophical treatises, rigidly "working out" the initially agreed "backbone" of the script.

The basis of the script was written in advance and discussed with the members of the troupe based on the planned audience. The male-only performance was a mixture of effervescent humor, satirical dialogue, crude farce, acrobatics, hoaxes, clowning, music, and occasional dancing. All this overshadowed the main theme: the love of one or more young couples.

Intricate love collisions were brought to the fore only based on the female audience.

By the 19th century, the commedia dell'arte was becoming obsolete, but was continued in pantomime and melodrama. In the 20th century comedy serves as a model for the synthetic theater of Meyerhold and Vakhtangov, as well as the French Jacques Copeau and Jean-Louis Barrot, who revived the expressiveness of stage gesture and improvisation and attached great importance to ensemble playing.

Commedia dell'arte was born from carnival festivities. There was no theater yet, but there were jesters, mimes, masks. Another factor was the emergence of a national Italian dramaturgy. New plays were written by Ariosto, Machiavelli, Bibiena, Aretino, but all these works are of little use for the stage, they are oversaturated with characters and an abundance of storylines. This drama was called "learned comedy" (Italian Commedia erudita).

Principle tipi fissi, in which the same characters (masks) participate in scenarios of different content, today it is widely used in the creation of comedy television series, and the art of improvisation is used in stand-up comedy.

Geiger Richard (1870-1945) "Pierrot and Columbine"

In the ancient Roman theater there was a type of folk performance called atellani. These were obscene farces, originally improvised, whose actors also wore masks; some of the characters were similar in character to the characters of the commedia dell'arte (for example, the Roman mask of Papus and the Italian mask of Pantalone), although it is wrong to speak of the Atellani as the predecessor of the commedia dell'arte: the tradition gap between them is more than twelve centuries. Most likely, we can only talk about the similarity of the circumstances in which these types of theater were born.

The characters of the Roman comedy, rethought under the influence of national customs and mores, became the prototypes of the main characters: the gullible old Venetian merchant Pantalone; the pedantic Doctor of the University of Bologna; the braggart and coward of the Captain, who was easily recognizable as an officer of the hated occupying Spanish army. Because of the mixing of such heterogeneous elements, it was impossible to build a single action, and the commedia dell'arte is a series of interludes.

Ludovic Alleamu "Saddled Pierrot"

Angelo Beolco (Rudzante) in the first half of the 16th century composed plays for the Venetian carnivals, using the technique of "learned comedy". Confusing plots were accompanied by tricks and healthy peasant humor. A small troupe gradually gathered around Beolko, where the principle tipi fissi and the use of folk dialectal speech on the stage was established. Finally, Beolco introduced dance and music into dramatic action. It was not yet a commedia dell'arte - the Beolco troupe played within given plot, she did not have free play and improvisation - however, the road for the emergence comedy was open. The first mention of the theater of masks dates back to 1555.

Angelo Beolco(Italian Angelo Beolco, stage name - Ruzante (Italian Ruzzante); 1502, Padua, - March 17, 1542, Padua) - Italian playwright and actor

Angelo Beolco was the illegitimate son of a wealthy merchant who owned land in the vicinity of Padua, who had degrees in arts and medicine. Brought up in the family on an equal footing with legitimate children, Angelo received a good education, but he had no rights to the Beolko inheritance, and the need forced him to enter the theater stage.

At the age of 18, Beolko organized an amateur troupe in Padua, which gave performances during carnivals, composed for this troupe, always in the Padua dialect, small scenes from the Padua village life that he knew well - buffoon, comedy and even tragic, ending in murders.

The actors of the Beolko troupe performed under constant names and in unchanged costumes - Beolko called them unchanged types (tipi fissi), although the nature of the role could vary depending on the genre. Beolko himself created the image of a cheerful and broken peasant boy from the outskirts of Padua - Ruzante, who knew how to sing and dance well.

In various plays, Rudzante could be a deceived husband, a stupid servant or a boastful warrior, but his character remained constant, and this constancy was emphasized by the unchanging peasant costume.

Success came very soon, and Beolco found rich patrons, primarily in the person of the Venetian patrician, a generous patron of the arts, Alvise Cornaro. The troupe performed exclusively in front of spectators belonging to the patrician or bourgeois class, and adapted to the tastes that prevailed in these circles.

Obeying the demand, Beolko began to write large plays - in the genre of “learned comedy” (commedia erudita), which was widespread at that time, but, unlike most playwrights who worked in this genre, who were not familiar with the laws of the theater and intended their compositions rather for reading, Beolko wrote comedies exclusively for the stage, based on certain actors. Since the actors of his troupe went through a good realistic school, Beolko's "learned comedies" were distinguished by a realistic depiction of people and life.

Like all theatrical groups of that time, the Beolco troupe was semi-professional: it worked a lot during carnivals and much less during other periods; when forced breaks arose in the activities of the troupe, the actors that made up the troupe returned to their former occupations.

Nevertheless, the theatrical activity of Beolko had a significant impact on the formation of the Italian professional theater; his "unchanging types" anticipated the appearance of the "comedy of masks", but there was no improvisation in the Beolco theater. In the Venetian Republic, Beolko found many followers - actor-playwrights, the most famous among them were Antonio da Molino, nicknamed Burchiella, and Andrea Calmo.

At least some of the comedies written by Beolko are known: "The Coquette", "Comedy without a title", "Flora", "Anconitanka", "Dialogues in a rude peasant language", "The funniest and funniest dialogue" - and two more, which are alterations of the comedies of Plautus: "The Cow" and "Piovan".

Beolko's comedies were distinguished by realism, rare for that time, in depicting the life and customs of the Padua peasants; his satire avoided the mockery characteristic of the "peasant farces" of the Renaissance.

Forced to reckon with the tastes of his audience, Beolko, nevertheless, wherever he could, abandoned the established canons, and in the prologue of one of his comedies, disguised as Plautus, he proved that writing comedies the way Plautus and other ancient playwrights wrote them was already it is impossible: if Plautus were alive, he would write in a completely different way.

Beolko did not manage to carry out the reform of comedy and, as a playwright, did not find a worthy successor, which, however, did not prevent his contemporaries from appreciating the merits of his comedies; thus, the famous literary critic Benedetto Varchi wrote that "the comedies of Ruzante from Padua, representing rural plots, are superior to the ancient Atellani."

Auguste Toulmouche (1829 - 1890)

Zanni(Italian Zanni) - a large group of characters-servants (masks) of the Italian commedia dell'arte, among which the most important are: Brighella (the first zanni of the Venetian quartet of masks), Harlequin (the second zanni of the Venetian quartet of masks), Coviello (the first zanni of the Neapolitan quartet of masks) and Pulcinella (second zanni of the Neapolitan mask quartet). This also includes girls, maids of Colombina, Fantesca, Smeraldina, etc.

The word "zanni" comes from the name "Gianni" (Italian Gianni) in the Venetian pronunciation. Zan Ganassa - that was the name of one of the first actors who glorified this mask.

Zanni on the stage of the square theater - one of the oldest masks, continuing the tradition of court and carnival jesters. They appear in Italian farces of the 15th century, and even earlier - on the pages of Renaissance short stories.

Zanni- these are servants, former peasants who left their native places due to poverty and unemployment (Bergamo for northern masks, Cava and Acerra for southern ones) in search of a better life in prosperous port cities (Venice in northern Italy and Naples in the south). The townspeople looked with mockery at the newcomers, willingly laughed at them.

They often depict them as completely stupid (Harlequin), or smart, but with unusual for a city dweller, provincial deeds (Brigella), with a typical “hillbilly” dialect (Harlequin and Brighella, for example, speak a rather monosyllabic Bergamas dialect of Italian). Over time, of course, this satire softened, especially since it is the zanni who are actively intriguing the script, helping the old men Pantaloon and the Doctor, who are in love, in their confrontation.

Begma Oksana "Pierrot flirts with Colombina"

Brighella(Italian Brighella, fr. Briguelle) - the mask character of the Italian comedy dell'arte, the first zanni; one of the most ancient character-servants of the Italian theater. Represents the northern (or Venetian) quartet of masks, along with Harlequin, Pantalone and the Doctor.

Brighella is a former peasant native of Bergamo who speaks a staccato, monosyllabic, ending-eating Bergamo dialect. He is hired as a servant, cheats, pleases with witticisms and risky jokes.

Brighella wears a linen blouse, long trousers, a raincoat and a white cap. His white suit is usually trimmed with green galloons. The costume is complemented by yellow leather shoes. At the belt is a black purse, behind the belt is a dagger (sometimes wooden, but more often real).

Brighella's mask is hairy, dark in color with a black mustache and a black beard sticking out in all directions.

This is a dexterous and quirky fellow, often a thieving servant; cheeky with women, insolent with old men, brave with cowards, but obliging to the strong; always loud and talkative. At first, evil and ruthless, by the XVIII century. Brighella becomes softer and more cheerful.

His philosophy is very reminiscent of the public statements of Bozena Rynska: Brigella amuses the audience with long monologues against the elderly, who prevent the young from living, loving and achieving happiness. They vote incorrectly in elections, cross the road in the wrong place, and make up 71% of the completely unnecessary population, as the Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics recently noted.

In our country, this is already becoming the norm, almost a “fashion trend” among the “enlightened elite”. And before, in fact, it was considered the hallmark of a stupid redneck.

Actors who play this mask are required to be able to play the guitar and master basic acrobatic stunts.

Scapino, drawing by Maurice Sand, 1860

Brighella's mask, although one of the most beloved by a simple spectator, as a rule, was in the background of intrigue; the lack of active action was compensated by a large number of inserted tricks ( lazzi) and musical interludes. Images close to Brighella are present in the comedies of Lope de Vega and Shakespeare; it is also Scapin, Mascaril and Sganarelle by Moliere and Figaro Beaumarchais.

The most famous performers of this role were Nicolo Barbieri, who performed under the name Beltrame, Carlo Cantu (Buffetto) and Francesco Gabrielli (Scapino).

To be continued…

Commedia dell'arte originated in Italy in the 16th century, at the turn of the Middle Ages and the culture of modern times, and absorbed the features of both periods. First of all, it was born as a folk theater, the stage of which was the city square during the carnival festivities, where the crowd was entertained by jugglers and mimes for a long time. Representatives of different social strata, different nationalities and professions intersected here.

The square is the birthplace of the commedia dell'arte, the townspeople themselves are its heroes. At the same time, they can also be considered a special "living map" of Italian cities, since each of them spoke the dialect of the region from which he arrived, and represented the image of its typical inhabitant. It was not for nothing that on the stage for the theater of masks, the view of a street overlooking a wide square, with two houses belonging to the heroes, on opposite sides was reproduced. It is on the square that he places the characters in his series of engravings "Balli di Sfessania" ("Dances of the backless / boneless") of 1622.

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In each scenario, a brief scheme of performance, the acting heroes were a fixed set of images - masks embodied in costume, body language, in speech features based on the national dialects of Italy. The troupe usually consisted of two old men, for example, the stingy Venetian merchant Pantalone and the pedantic, stupid doctor from Bologna, four or two Lovers, a boastful Captain - a satirical image of Spanish soldiers, a cowardly braggart and zanni masks - servants. The comic roles included all masks except the Lovers, who did not wear this attribute. The plot of the script was usually based on the opposition of pairs of characters: fathers against sons and daughters; masters against servants; Captains against anyone who gets in their way.

There are usually two in zanni scripts. The first, most often his name was Brighella, originally from Bergamo, an industrial center in Lombardy. After the curtailment of industry in this area, the Bergamese dispersed throughout Italy in search of work, most often they were laborers. Brighella is cunning and smart. The second, Harlequin, came from the countryside, from the plains, he was considered rustic and naive. He always gets a lot of punches for what he did and for what he didn't do. A distinctive feature of the Harlequin is bright, all in patches that were supposed to close the holes in the suit. The behavior of zanni masks has always been associated with the lower strata of society. Unlike the Lovers, they did not speak correctly, twisted their tongues, behaved dishonorably, lustfully, and were often obsessed with hunger.

It was the zanni in the commedia dell'arte who most often used lazzi - comic tricks not directly related to the plot. An example is the scene where two servants tied back to back are trying to get to a dish of food and lift one another into the air. Or Harlequin, from hunger grabbing and swallowing flies. There are also scenes with fights, demonstrating sexual desire. They are characterized by wheel movement (when the head tends to take the place of the butt and vice versa), exaggeration, grotesque, extreme expressiveness: if a zanni cries, then tears always pour on others. Lazzi is a certain fixed way of using and representing the body, the origins of which lie in medieval carnival square culture.

The human body of the commedia dell'arte actors on the stage and in Callot's engravings is grotesque, as M. Bakhtin called it. It is becoming, it is not complete, it always absorbs and is absorbed by the world, therefore all protruding parts play an important role in it: nose, phallus, womb, buttocks, open mouth. Bakhtin wrote that "the main events in the life of a grotesque body, acts of bodily drama - eating, drinking, defecation (and other secretions: sweating, blowing your nose, sneezing), copulation, pregnancy, childbirth, growth, old age, illness, death, tearing, tearing into parts, absorption by another body - take place on the borders of the body and the world or on the borders of the old and the new body; in all these events of the bodily drama, the beginning and end of life are inextricably intertwined with each other. Lazzi are practically devoid of modesty, they are extremely naturalistic and close to the bodily tradition of the Middle Ages, reflected in Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Whereas the Lovers embodied a new canon of behavior inherent in people from high aristocratic society. They are the least mask-like, their clothes were luxurious costumes with a lot of jewelry, since these heroes belonged to the wealthy strata of society, spoke the Tuscan dialect, recognized as a literary language, and often interspersed with the poetry of Petrarch and Pietro Bembo in their speech. Also, the Lovers were distinguished by the refined manners inherent in high society.

During the early modern period, traditions associated with the expression of human emotions began to change. Loud lamentation over the death of relatives or lovers was now considered unacceptable; madness lost its sacred meaning associated with the image of a wise "fool", and turned into a disease requiring isolation. The concept of the body in medicine was changing: the humoral theory was losing its former significance, science began to rely on observation and experiment as the main methods that it uses in relation to the patient. Tears were no longer associated with divine grace, but only with negative emotions, so public crying was condemned. Even the laughter began to be divided into that caused by buffoonery - low laughter - and that caused by a good joke.

All parts of the body, protruding in grotesque images, not only cease to play a leading role, but their very demonstration passes into a zone of immorality and becomes shameful. The belly, mouth, nose lose their symbolic meaning, this body is closed and complete, it is at rest, static, hyperbolization is alien to it. All bodily acts have passed into the sphere of the individual psychological and domestic plan. And attention was now paid more to the head, face, eyes. This new corporeal canon was created at court with the help of treatises on good manners, such as Giovanni della Casa's Galateo, or on Customs (1558), and Norbert Elias called it "the process of civilizing morals."

In the 16th century, a new type of society was born - an aristocratic court society, in which the place of the feudal lords was taken by the nobles. The high rank of the nobleman and his house imposed rules of conduct, defined by a strict hierarchy and etiquette, the importance of which was ever increasing. Luxury in this society was given a socially representative value, and "good taste" was cultivated as a mechanism for distinguishing oneself from other classes. It turned out that collecting art objects, as well as philanthropy in relation to artists and poets, became part of the courtier's lifestyle. This also includes the conclusion of contracts with commedia dell'arte troupes, the presence of which at court turned into the same symbol of prestige as orders for personal portraits or sculptures from famous masters. By the 18th century, this trend had intensified and spread far beyond Italy.

Well-known troupes such as the Jelosi, in one way or another, have always been associated with the court or aspired to get there in order to secure a stable income and a home for a long period. Famous casts, having received fame and patronage, tried to dissociate themselves from street theater. They no longer performed in front of the city public in the squares, but in specially built theaters in front of invited spectators, and also tried to get closer to the literary tradition, especially with learned comedy. An example of this is the release of collections of scripts, the first of which was a collection by Flaminio Scala (1611). In addition to comedies, which made up the bulk of the actors' repertoire, pastorals and tragedies were included in the collections. Script printing became a way of advertising and an attempt to move from body language to literary language.

Initially, the theater of masks combined the outgoing medieval bodily tradition and the emerging rules of behavior in the society of the New Age. However, in the end, this duality, reflected in the scenarios, actions and the body of the actor, led to the extinction of the commedia dell'arte at the end of the 18th century, because it was impossible to imagine the Italian folk theater without zanni, masks, improvisation or crazy acrobatic lapzzes.

COMEDY DEL ARTE (Commedia dell'ar-te) - co-me-diya ma-juice, the genre of Italian te-at-ral-no-go presentation, os-but-van-ny on stage nicheskoy im-pro-vis-za-tion with teaching-sti-em mustache-to-chi-vyh per-with-on-zh (ma-juice).

In the title, the professional character of the activities of the comedy del arte troupes (Italian arte - profession, re-mes-lo) is emphasized. Ro-di-na commedia dell'arte - se-ve-ro-east of Italy. The first but-ta-ri-al-ny act, fik-si-ruyu-shchy ob-ra-zo-va-nie of the ak-ter-troupe-py, yes-ti-ru-et-sya 1545 ; the first mentions of im-be-le-ni-yah with teaching ma-juice date back to the 1550s. Of several troupes that arose in the last third of the 16th century, the general -lo-zi "(mid-di ak-te-rov - F. An-d-rei-ni, creator of the Ka-pi-ta-na mask, and his wife-on Iza-bel- la) and “Kon-fi-den-ti” (actor of this corpse-py T. Mar-ti-nel-li gave the classic form to the mask Ar-le-ki-na, coz -dan-noy A. Na-zel-li by the name of Dzan Ga-nas-sa).

Mas-ka in commedia dell'arte is also an element of stage cos-tu-ma (ho-cha with a closed face you-stu-pa-whether only puff-background lanes -so-na-zhi), and fixed am-p-lua ak-te-ra, with whom he went from play-sy to play-su and from corpse-py into a corpse-poo. Mas-ki from-whether-cha-lis me-zh-du-fight with kos-tu-mom, language-com and plot-noy function-qi-her. To the number of hundred-yan-nyh from-but-si-mas-ki hundred-ri-kov (father or co-per-nick of the hero, not-rarely-go-vo-riv-shie in dia-lek-tah: ve-not-qi-an-sky at Pan-ta-lo-ne, Bo-lon-sky with the use of-pol-zo-va-ni-em la-ti-niz-mov u Dok-to-ra), servants or zan-ni (the plot function is the same as that of a ra-ba in a pal-lia-te or a servant in a learned co-media ; language - ber-ga-m-sky dialect; usually you-stu-pa-whether in a pair: dexterous, cunning, leading in-tri-gu Bri-gel -la or Ska-pee-but and tu-sing, rude, not-father-san-ny, but at the same time, ve-se-ly and simply soulful Ar-le-kin or Truf-fal-di-no), servant-ki (mas-ka evo-lu-cio-ni-ro-va-la from the female va-ri-an-ta Ar-le-ki-na to about-ra-zu elegant and sharp-ro-intelligent sub-ret-ki), Ka-pi-ta-na (rises-ho-dit to ob-ra-zu hwa-st-li-vo- go warrior, plot function - co-per-nick of the hero; language - Spanish or lo-ma-ny Italian-Jan-sky); in love with lyon-nyh heroes.

South of Italy do-ba-vil to this-mu-na-bo-ru mas-ki Kov-el-lo (va-ri-ant Bri-gel-ly), Pul-chi-nel-ly (va-ri -ant Ar-le-ki-na, ancestor-ro-di-tel of French Po-li-shi-not-la, English Pan-cha and Russian Pet-rush-ki), Tar-ta-lyi (va-ri -ant sta-ri-ka), Ska-ra-much-chi (va-ri-ant Ka-pi-ta-na). Ru-ko-vo-di-tel corpse-py performed the functions of ad-mi-ni-st-ra-to-ra, re-zhis-se-ra and dra-ma-tur-ga. Ak-cho-ry ras-po-la-ga-li the so-called stage-na-ri-em, where there was ras-pi-san in a row-dock action-st-via, but from-day-st-in -val text re-p-lik, some-rye im-pro-vi-zi-ro-va-lis. About 700 sce-na-ri-ev have come down to us in ru-ko-pi-syah or in public-li-ka-qi-yah (the first scene-on-riy was published in 1602, the first a collection of scenes-on-ri-ev - in 1611). In the no-menk-la-tu-re, the ma-juice from-ra-zi-lased the plot-scheme of the classic comedy (love-col-li-zia, pre- five-st-viya from the side of the old-ri-kov-ot-tsov; in-tri-ga, someone is being led by servants), but in re-per-tois-re comedy del arte were both heroic, and tragic-comic, and pastoral plays.

Commedia dell'arte played a role-ra-la op-re-de-lying role in the for-mi-ro-va-nii of professional theater in Italy and for its pre-de-la-mi - oso -ben-no in Is-pa-nia, where since 1572 Dzan Ga-nas-sa has been settled, and in France, where the theater of the Italian co-media was ra-bo-tal (with pe-re-ry-va-mi) from the end of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. On the Ak-Ter-sky tech-ni-ku Mol-e-ra, playing-rav-she-go in the Parisian te-at-re "Pti-Bourg-bon" in 1658-1660, more T. Fio-ril-li, creator of the mas-ki Ska-ra-much-chi (in France - Ska-ra-mush) had a great influence. Ig-raw-shi in Pa-ri-same since 1662 D. Bian-ko-lel-li pre-vra-til Ar-le-ki-na from tu-po-to-go bump-nya to ost -ro-um-no-go and qi-nich-no-go shu-ta, and his wife, daughter and granddaughter created-yes-yes-on-time not-ve-sty Ar-le-ki- on - Ko-lom-bi-ny (1683). It was in France that the mask of Pier-ro and the co-na-mi of the commedia dell'arte were ut-ver-di-lazed and entered the great com-me-dio-gra-fia (Sh. Duf-re-ni, J.F. Ren-yar, P. Ma-ri-vo). K. Gol-do-no fight with commedia dell'arte, but at the same time use its mask; in the work of K. Gotz-qi, his literary anti-no-no, comedy dell'arte re-re-zhi-la after the next take-off. In Germany, ro-man-ti-ki (L. Tick, E.T.A. Hoffman) were used to experience commedia dell'arte; in Russia (where the corpse-py of the comedy del arte gastro-li-ro-va-li since 1733) - sim-in-list (A.A. Blok) and after-to-vav-shie tra-di-tion Se-reb-rya-no-go-ve-ka te-at-ral-nye re-gis-se-ry (N.N. Ev-rei-nov, V.E. Mei-er- hold, A.Ya. Tai-rov, E.B. Vakh-tan-gov).

Editions:

Peretz V.N. Italian-Jan-sky co-media and inter-ter-media, presented at the court of the im-per-rat-ri-tsy An-ny Io-an-nov-ny in 1733-1735 Tekst. P., 1917;

Commedie dell'arte. Mil., 1985-1986. Vol. 1-2;

Pandolfi V. La comme-dia dell'arte. Story e testo. 2 ed. Firenze, 1988. Vol. 1-6.

Additional literature:

Mik-la-shev-sky K. La commedia dell'arte, or Theater of Italian-Jan-sky ko-me-di-an-tov of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. SPb., 1914;

Ji-ve-le-gov A.K. Italian-Jan-native ko-media (com-media dell'arte). 2nd ed. M., 1962;

Tavi-ani F. La commedia dell'arte e la societа̀ ba-rocca. Roma, 1969. Vol. 1-2.

Illustrations:

J. Callo. Ka-pi-tan Es-gan-ga-ra-to - Ka-pi-tan Ko-kod-ril-lo (per-so-na-zhi ko-media del ar-te). Etching from the series “Bal-li di Sfes-sa-nia”. 1622. BRE archive.

The Commedia dell'Arte is a European theater that first emerged in Italy during the Renaissance.

The appearance of the Commedia dell'Arte

During the Renaissance in Italy, schools of professional actors actively began to emerge. New scripts appeared, which at first were written by the speakers themselves. This is how the Commedia dell'Arte was born. The exact translation of this term sounds like "professional theater", but later it began to be interpreted as a "comedy of masks".

Commedia Del Arte

The first mention of the Commedia dell'Arte began to appear in the middle of the 16th century. Her performances almost immediately became a favorite spectacle for the public. The atmosphere of unbridled fun reigned in the theater, which was supported by the antics and jokes of the actors, their ridiculous antics, stupidity, tricks, musical numbers and other elements of the show.

The main differences between the Comedy Del Arte and other performances were: the presence of masks, buffoonery and improvisation. Other minor features were multilingualism, a large amount of music and songs, ease of staging on any venue.

The favorite scenario of the Commedia dell'Arte was a love affair. Usually the plot revolved around two lovers trying to stand up to their stupid old parents.

Not all actors wore masks, but, as a rule, only old lovers and servants. It is believed that the origin of such costumes is associated with the traditions of carnival costumes. The appearance of masks became a prerequisite for the emergence of theatrical roles.

Heroes of the Commedia dell'Arte

All the characters were common social types of people. Usually ten heroes were present in the action: two old men, two servants, two lovers and two mistresses, a maid and a captain.

Old Pantalone was a caricature of Venetian merchants. He was stingy, prudent and suspicious. Another old man - the Doctor - was a parody of a lawyer scientist from Bologna. He was a pedant, a talker and an imaginary scientist. At the end of the performance, the old people were left fooled by everyone.

Old Man Pantalone

The Zanni servants were the most comical characters in the Commedia dell'Arte. As a rule, one of them was smart, the other was stupid. They were the main characters, creating intrigue in the performance and making the audience laugh. The audience has always been on their side. Their jokes and witticisms were buffoonish in nature and were called lazzi. The most popular zanni were Pulcinella and Harlequin.

Harlequin

The maid - Servette - was also an integral part of the performance. Her role was to confuse intrigue and complicity in the love affairs of her mistress.

Lovers and Mistresses were the ideal image of the youth of the 16th century. They were young, beautiful, educated and smart. But their only occupation was love.

The captain was a military adventurer, bandit and rapist, whose main features were cowardice and bragging.

Significance of the Commedia dell'Arte

Thus, the Commedia dell'Arte represented a whole era in the life of society. All her characters were caricatures of the most common types of people.

Later, in the Commedia Del Arte, less and less attention was paid to the plot and more to pantomime, pop numbers. Thus, it became fertile ground for the emergence of the circus and many other types of theatrical genres.

Until now, the Commedia dell'Arte has been a model of the high professionalism of the actors, striking with the richness of stage techniques and outstanding acting on stage. She became the inspiration for the work of all the greatest playwrights of modern times: Shakespeare, Moliere, Lope de Vega and others.

Venice masks. Commedia dell'arte masks

Comedy del arte (Italian la commedia dell "arte), or comedy of masks - a type of Italian folk theater, the performances of which were created by the method of improvisation, based on a script containing a brief plot diagram of the performance, with the participation of actors dressed in masks. Also referred to in various sources as la commedia a soggetto (scenario theatre), la commedia all'improvviso (improvisation theatre) or la commedia degli zanni (zanni comedy).

The number of masks in the commedia dell'arte is very large (there are more than a hundred in total), but most of them are related characters who differ only in names and minor details. The main characters of the comedy include two quartets of male masks, the mask of the Captain, as well as characters who do not wear masks, these are the zanni girls and the Lovers, as well as all the noble ladies and gentlemen.

Male characters
Northern (Venetian) quartet of masks:
- Pantalone (Manifico, Cassandro, Uberto), - a Venetian merchant, a miserly old man;
- Doctor (Doctor Balanzone, Doctor Graziano), - pseudo-scientist doctor of law; old man;
- Brighella (Scapino, Buffetto), - the first zanni, an intelligent servant;
- Harlequin (Mezzetino, Truffaldino, Tabarino), - the second zanni, a stupid servant;

Southern (Neapolitan) mask quartet:
- Tartaglia, stuttering judge;
- Scaramuccia, boastful warrior, coward;
- Coviello, the first zanni, a clever servant;
- Pulcinella (Polishinel), second zanni, stupid servant;

The captain is a boastful warrior, a coward, a northern analogue of the Scaramucci mask;
- Pedrolino (Piero, Pajac), servant, one of the zanni.
- Lelio (also, Orazio, Lucio, Flavio, etc.), a young lover;

female characters
- Isabella (also, Luchinda, Vittoria, etc.), young in love; often the heroine was called the name of the actress who played this role;
- Colombina, Fantesca, Fiametta, Smeraldina, etc., are servants.

ZANNI (Zanni) - Common name for a comedic servant. The name comes from the male name Giovanni, which was so popular among the common people that it became a household name for a servant. The Zanni estate includes such characters as Harlequin, Brighella, Pierino, who appeared later. The characteristics of the nameless zanni are an insatiable appetite and ignorance. He lives exclusively for today and does not think about complex matters. Usually devoted to his master, but dislikes discipline. At least 2 such characters participated in the performance, one of which was stupid, and the other, on the contrary, was distinguished by a fox mind and dexterity. They were simply dressed - in a shapeless light blouse and trousers, usually sewn from flour sacks. The mask initially covered the entire face, so in order to communicate with other heroes of the zanni comedy, it was necessary to raise its lower part (which was inconvenient). Subsequently, the mask was simplified, and it began to cover only the forehead, nose and cheeks. A characteristic feature of the zanni mask is an elongated nose, and its length is directly proportional to the stupidity of the character.

HARLEQUIN (Arlecchino) - zanni of the rich old man Pantalone. Harlequin's costume is distinguished by its brightness and variegation: it is made up of rhombuses of red, black, blue and green colors. Such a pattern symbolizes the extreme poverty of the Harlequin - his clothes, as it were, consist of countless ill-matched patches. This character can neither read nor write, and by origin he is a peasant who left the impoverished village of Bergamo to go to work in prosperous Venice. By nature, Harlequin is an acrobat and a clown, so his clothes should not restrict movement. With him, the mischievous person carries a stick, with which he often bludgeons other characters.

Despite the penchant for fraud, Harlequin cannot be considered a scoundrel - a person just needs to live somehow. He is not particularly smart and rather gluttonous (the love of food is sometimes stronger than the passion for Columbine, and stupidity prevents the amorous plans of Pantalone from being fulfilled). Harlequin's mask was black, with sinister features (according to one version, the word "Harlequin" itself comes from the name of one of the demons of Dante's "Hell" - Alicino). On his head was a white felt hat, sometimes with fox or rabbit fur.
Other names: Bagattino, Trufaldino, Tabarrino, Tortellino, Gradelino, Polpettino, Nespolino, Bertoldino and so on.

COLOMBINA (Columbina) - servant of the Lover (Inamorata). She helps her mistress in matters of the heart, deftly manipulating the rest of the characters, who are often not indifferent to her. Columbine is distinguished by coquetry, feminine insight, charm and dubious virtue. She is dressed, like her constant suitor Harlequin, in stylized colored patches, as befits a poor girl from the provinces. Columbine's head is adorned with a white hat, matching the color of the apron. She does not have a mask, but her face is heavily made up, her eyes are especially brightly drawn.
Other names: Harlequin, Corallina, Ricciolina, Camilla, Lisette.

PEDROLINO or PIERINO (Pedrolino, Pierino) - one of the characters-servants. Pedrolino is dressed in a loose white tunic with huge buttons and too long sleeves, a round corrugated collar around his neck, and a cap hat with a narrow round crown on his head. Sometimes the clothes had large pockets stuffed with souvenirs of a romantic nature. His face is always heavily whitened and painted, so there is no need to wear a mask. Despite the fact that Pedrolino belongs to the Zanni tribe, his character is radically different from that of Harlequin or Brighella. He is sentimental, amorous (although he suffers mainly from soubrette), trusting and devoted to the owner. The poor fellow is usually tormented by unrequited love for Columbine and by the ridicule of other comedians, whose mental organization is not so fine.
The role of Pierino in the troupe was often played by the youngest son, because this hero had to look young and fresh.

BRIGELLA (Brighella) - Another zanni, Harlequin's partner. In a number of cases, Brigella is a self-made man who started without a penny, but gradually saved up some money and secured a fairly comfortable existence for himself. Often he is portrayed as the owner of a tavern. Brigella is a big lover of money and a ladies' man. It was these two emotions - primal lust and greed - that froze on his green half-mask. In some productions, he appears as a servant, more cruel in character than his younger brother Harlequin. Brigella knows how to please the owner, but at the same time is quite capable of cheating him, not without benefit to himself. He is cunning, sneaky and can, according to the circumstances, be anyone - a soldier, a sailor, and even a thief.

His costume is a white camisole and trousers of the same color, decorated with transverse green stripes. He often carries a guitar with him, as he is prone to playing music.

Brighella's mask, although it was one of the most beloved by ordinary viewers, as a rule, was in the background of intrigue, the lack of active action was compensated by a large number of inserted tricks and musical interludes. Images close to Brighella are present in the comedies of Lope de Vega and Shakespeare; it is also Scapin, Mascaril and Sganarelle by Moliere and Figaro Beaumarchais.

LOVERS (Inamorati) - the constant heroes of the commedia del arte, gentlemen Colombina, Harlequin and other zanni. The lovers look detached from life, pompous characters. If they move, then in a ballet way, exposing their socks unnaturally. They gesticulate a lot and often look in the mirror. The main features of the Lovers are vanity, painful attention to their own appearance, nervousness, immersion in their feelings and complete ineptitude, which is actively used by the zanni. Even their names sound grandiloquent (the men were usually called Silvio, Fabrizio, Aurelio, Orazio, Ottavio, Lelio, Leandro or Florindo, and the women were Isabella, Flaminia, Vittoria, Silvia, Lavinia or Ortensia).
Inamorati always dressed in the latest fashion, exaggeratedly carefully and smartly. The masks were replaced by a thick layer of make-up, thanks to which the roles of Isabella and Lelio were available to far from young actors. In addition, wigs, flies and all kinds of jewelry were an indispensable accessory of their toilet. Young men often dressed up in beautiful military uniforms. In the course of the action, the costumes of the Lovers could change several times.

Despite the fact that the intrigue of the comedy is built around the love of the young, lovers always remain in the shadow of zanni masks, and their love is always perceived with a certain amount of irony.

ISABELLA (also, Luchinda, Vittoria, etc.), young lover; often the heroine was called the name of the actress who played this role

PULCINELLA (Pulcinella) - the Italian analogue of the Russian Petrushka, the English Mr. Punch and the French Open. A typical representative of the Neapolitan proletariat with all its characteristic features. It is interesting that Pulcinella is an ambiguous image, he could be in the play both stupid, and cunning, and a servant, and a master, and a coward, and a bully. The name of this character is translated from Italian as "chicken" and is obviously related to his mask, the most noticeable element of which is a large beak-shaped nose. Pulcinella's costume consists of a long baggy white blouse tied at the waist with a leather strap, spacious shapeless pants and an unusual oblong hat. He was often depicted as a hunchback. At first, the hump was barely noticeable, then it began to rapidly increase in size, and the stomach also grew in parallel. The bending of Pulcinella symbolizes his fear of beatings (and in the comedy, everyone who stood higher on the social ladder, that is, very many, beat him).

Pantalone (Pantalone) - one of the most famous Venetian masks. Pantalone is an elderly rich merchant who is constantly dragging after some female character (always to no avail). This image embodied the growing strength of the Venetian bourgeoisie. A characteristic feature of Pantalone's costume is a huge codpiece, symbolizing his imaginary male power. Usually the old man was dressed in a dark red doublet and tight pants of the same color, a black cloak with short sleeves and a small black hat, like a fez. A dagger or a purse hung from his belt, and yellow Turkish shoes with sharp, curved toes served as shoes. The dark brown mask had a prominent hooked nose, shaggy gray eyebrows and the same mustache (sometimes also glasses). Pantalone's beard stuck up, sometimes almost touching the tip of the nose, which gave the old man's profile a special comicality. Often, according to the plot, Pantalone wanted to marry a girl with whom his son was in love, and flirted with Colombina, the servant of his daughter Isabella.

CAPTAIN (Il Capitano) - one of the oldest characters in the commedia dell'arte. The captain in the comedy is never a native of the city where the action takes place, but always comes from somewhere far away. Type of arrogant and unprincipled warriors - braggart and adventurer. Depending on the political situation, he could look like a Spaniard or a Turk, although initially this image is Italian. Accordingly, his character also changed - in different periods, the Captain could be a parody of various national traits. Its main features are aggressiveness, unbridled lies about their imaginary exploits, lack of conscience, the desire for enrichment and the desire to appear dandy and handsome. All this was reflected in his costume, which could be different, but always distinguished by ridiculous pretentiousness and brightness. His clothing, in fact, has always been a parody of the military profession: the hat was decorated with feathers of loud colors, his legs were buried in high boots with large garters, the camisole was sewn from fabric in a contrasting diagonal strip, and a huge sword hung from his belt. The Captain's mask could be flesh or dark in color, with a long warlike nose and a menacingly protruding stiff mustache. Its purpose was to indicate the contrast between the true (cowardly and deceitful) nature of the character and who he claims to be.

DOCTOR (Il Dottore) - a mask close in character to Pantaloon, an elderly character, usually the father of one of the Lovers (Inamorati). External features of the Doctor were characterized by obesity (sometimes this hero is truly huge), slowness on the stage and important manners of a man of a scientist. He is a parody of the graduates of the University of Bologna, so he constantly says outwardly meaningful, but in fact absurd Latin phrases. Has a penchant for gluttony and pornographic jokes, usually offensive to women. He is not rich. The Doctor's costume is a toe-length black varsity gown, black shoes, stockings and breeches, and a black academic cap. A dark mask with gray tufted eyebrows, as a rule, covered only the forehead and nose. The actor's cheeks remained open - they were brightly blushed to show the character's love for alcohol.
According to the plot, the Doctor often acted as a friend (or rival) of Pantalone and the owner of Pedrolino.

Jester (Jester, Jolly) -represented in commedia dell'arte, this is a classic mask. The Jester first appeared in the Italian theater, then became popular throughout Europe. The costume of this character is distinguished by variegation and multicolor. On the head is a cap with three "ears", to each of which bells are tied.

Scaramuccio (Scaramuccia) is an adventurer and warrior. In later comedies, he often coincided with the image of the Captain. Scaramuccio is usually a servant to one of the older characters. He is most often dressed in all black and wears a black velvet mask.

Tartaglia (Italian: Tartaglia, stutter) - character-mask of the Italian commedia dell'arte. Represents the southern (or, Neapolitan) quartet of masks, along with Coviello, Scaramuccia and Pulcinella. In France, this mask did not take root.
The Tartaglia mask appeared in Naples c. 1610 One of the first interpreters of it were the actors Ottavio Ferrarese and Beltrani da Verona.
Origin: Spaniard who does not speak Italian well.
Occupation: civil servant: he can be a judge, a policeman, a pharmacist, a notary, a tax collector, etc.
Costume: a stylized official costume, a uniform hat on a bald head; big glasses on the nose.
Behavior: He is generally an old man with a fat belly; always a stutterer, his signature stunt is the fight against stuttering, which turns a serious monologue, for example, in court, into a comical stream of obscenities.
The mask reaches its greatest popularity by the second half of the 17th century. In the XVIII century. in the fiabs of Carlo Gozzi, this role was played by the actors Agostino Fiorilli and Antonio Sacchi, but in Gozzi this mask no longer has such a limited scope; three oranges).

COVIELLO (Italian Coviello, French Covielle) - character-mask of the Italian commedia dell'arte, the first zanni, the southern version of Brighella. Represents the southern (or, Neapolitan) quartet of masks, along with Tartaglia, Scaramuccia and Pulcinella.
The name of the mask comes from Iacoviello, a Neapolitan pronunciation of the name Giacomino, Yacoviello Giacometto - that was the name of one of the creators of this mask.
Origin: former peasant, native of Cava or Acerra (ancient cities near Naples), speaking a vibrant Neapolitan dialect. Occupation: servant.
Costume: wears a tight-fitting suit, but may occasionally wear simple pantaloons and a vest; often with a sword and mallet stick in his belt; wears a hat with feathers.
Mask: red, with a long, beak-like nose; often wears glasses. Behavior: always acts with cunning, pressure, clever invention, intelligence; grimaces a lot, dances and plays the mandolin or guitar).
The mask was formed by the end of the 16th century. and was typical of Southern Italy. An attempt to move it to the north was unsuccessful, because. lost its recognition and southern temperament; retaining only the external form, the mask became shameless and obscene. However, it received an unexpected development in France, where Molière saw this mask and used it in his comedy "The Tradesman in the Nobility"

The lack of dramaturgy close to the people forced the actors to process literary plots into scripts and, in the course of action, compose the text of their roles themselves, while maintaining the main conflict of the Renaissance comedy - the struggle between the old way of life and new young forces. But Love triumphed over everything - in the name of the joys of love, the most cunning intrigues, the most daring practical jokes, substitutions and disguises were built.

Each character speaks his own dialect: Pantalone - in Venetian; Doctor - in Bologna (the first law university was built in Bolonia); Captain - in neopolitan; Servants - in Bergamo; Lovers - in Tuscan: the literary language of Italy.
The mask in Del'Arte's comedy had a double meaning: firstly, it was a stage accessory, and secondly, the mask expressed a certain social type, with once and for all established psychological traits, an unchanged appearance and an appropriate dialect. Having once chosen such a mask, the actor did not part with it throughout his entire stage life.

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