ART COMEDY: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS AND CHARACTERS - ART - 2025

The Comedia del Arte, also called Comedia all'improviso (for its use of improvisation), was an eminently popular type of theatrical performance. Its origin is located in the 16th century, although some authors affirm that it already existed during the previous century.

This type of theater began in Renaissance Italy, experiencing a certain expansion in France, Spain or Russia. The theories about their origin are varied: one of them, relates them to a certain type of representation that already occurred in ancient Rome; another links it to carnival, emphasizing the use of masks.

Source: Claude Gillot, via Wikimedia Commons The Art Comedy was characterized by its definite plots and by its fixed characters. The works were divided into three acts and there was great freedom of improvisation for the actors. Its audience was overwhelmingly popular, forcing it to use less cultured language than that used in aristocratic salons.

The characters were distinguished by their masks. Among them were the lovers, the vecchios (old men) and the zannis (servants or buffoons).

Origin

The Comedy of Art, originally called in Italian, Commedia dell'Arte, had its first performances in the 15th century. Its main boom occurred during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, even reaching the nineteenth century.

This type of theater arose within a predominantly rural society. According to experts, the peasants used to meet after work, one of the most common entertainments being listening to stories.

From these meetings and the stories that were narrated, a series of characters were created, highly characterized by the different dialects that were spoken in Italy.

The characters were easily identifiable by the peasants and the typical carnival masks were added. At first, the performances were very visual and mocking, with a great deal of improvisation.

Middle Ages

Before the arrival of the Renaissance, during the Middle Ages, in Italy there were already representations inherited from the Roman theater. They used to be improvisations and had a satirical and comic character. In those shows dance and mime were also included.

These small works only had a brief initial script, called Canovacci. It was a neutral plot, from which different stories developed. This distinguished them from formal theater, which had a fixed script to perform.

According to historians, the actors were incorporating the carnival masks to the shows, being the germ of the later Comedia del Arte. This last term, "Art", had the medieval meaning of "skill", and was used to differentiate this type of theater.

In front of the works represented in the Court, in which the actors used to be aristocrats or academics, those of that original Comedia del Arte were professionals. For the first time they grouped themselves into actors' associations and began to charge for their performances.

Theories of origin

In addition to the aforementioned medieval antecedent, three different theories about the origin of the Comedy of Art are usually pointed out.

The first, supported by some studies, claim that they may come from ancient Rome. At that time the so-called “atheian” farces were represented, which had some characters that experts relate to those of the Comedia del Arte.

On the other hand, other scholars believe that the origin was the union of the activities of medieval jugglers, jesters and jugglers, with the elements of Carnival. This current points to Ruzzante's popular comedies as the closest antecedent to the Comedy of Art.

The last theory affirms that it was about the evolution of the Latin comedy. When approaching the town, the style of the works of comic authors, such as Plautus or Terence, would have been transformed into that new type of theater.

characteristics

In the theater field, the Comedy of Art is considered the most recognizable and important heritage of the Italian Renaissance. From then on, a new type of actors appeared: comedians, coming from the jesters, minstrels and medieval storytellers.

The companies that emerged with this kind of theater were itinerant. They moved from one town to another looking for where to represent the works, although some managed to stay in the larger cities.

These transfers caused the scenarios to be very simple, since they had to take them with them. Although they could sometimes perform the plays in authentic theaters, they often had to do so in makeshift squares or places.

Arguments

The central plot of the works of the Comedy of Art used to be very similar. It was actually the axis on which the actors were to improvise each time.

The most common story revolved around two lovers who had to face opposition from their families or other absurd problems. The other characters were in charge of representing the comic situations so that the audience could enjoy the play.

Use of dialects

The variety of accents offered by the Italian peninsula and the different topics associated with each region were widely used by the Comedia del Arte.

Each character was acquiring the way of speaking and the character of the different areas, using local features in a humorous way. For example, Pulcinella was Neapolitan, while Harlequin was of Bergamo origin.

More expensive

One of the most characteristic elements of the Comedy of Art was the use of masks. Each character, except the lovers, wore his own. It was a half-mask theater, leaving their mouths free for them to speak.

Another important element was that there were women performing. This differentiated it from English theater and from other traditions, in which female characters were represented by men.

Improvisation

As noted above, the script for the Comedia del Arte was very sketchy. Some came from ancient plays and served as the basis for the actors to improvise.

At the time of the performance, the company placed a script at the back of the stage, which indicated the entrances and exits to the actors. The dialogues, meanwhile, were mostly made up on the fly.

Structure

Although improvisation was the norm, the Comedy of Art was not without a certain fixed structure. Each company had a stage director and a script to control the performance.

That director was also one of the actors, usually the main one. Before starting the show, the custom was to offer a summary of the plot to the audience.

The works used to be developed in three acts and, between them, musical, acrobatics or dance shows were interspersed.

Characters

Broadly speaking, the Comedy of Art consisted of three groups of characters. The first consisted of the servants, called Zanni. These were of peasant origin and used their ingenuity and picaresque to survive in the city.

The second group was the Vecchi, the old men. They represented Power in its different forms, both the political and the military, through the economic or the intellectual.

Lastly, there were the Innamorati (the Lovers). These did not wear a mask, since their feelings had to be shown naked.

Harlequin

The Harlequin was part of the group of servants, the Zanni. He came from Bergamo and was characterized as cunning, but naive and foolish in his work. He was always trying to improve his salary, many times working for various masters. In the end, he used to take more hits than money.

His wardrobe consisted of patches and patches, although over time he began to wear the typical diamond suit. Her mask was made of black leather and she wore large mustaches, which she lost in her French version.

Punchinel

Her Italian name was Pulcinella and she came from Naples. His main feature was a hump, in addition to a white suit.

He had a resigned character, with deep thoughts. His physical appearance condemned him to be mocked and starved, misfortunes that he tried to overcome by singing. He wore a black mask and a hook nose.

The character was the origin of a type of puppet and, in fact, in France he changed his name to Monsieur Guignol.

Colombina

She was a maid, Harlequin's companion. She suffered from the approach of the master, who confused the girl's flirtation with a love interest.

Trousers

Pant was part of the group of Old Men. He was a wealthy merchant, from Venice, and they called him magnificent.

The character was very suspicious and lustful. His daughter was one of the lovers and his suitor never liked his father.

He was dressed in a black cape and a mask of the same color in which a white goatee and a hooked nose stood out.

The doctor

Despite stating that he was a member of the University of Bologna, on many occasions he shows great ignorance. He mixed his dialect with a very bad Latin.

He always wore black, with a very wide-brimmed hat. The mask is similar to that of Trousers.

Captain

Within the character groups, the Captain was a bit independent. He was neither a master nor a servant, nor was he a lover. However, it completed the representation of Power, representing the military.

He showed friendship with the masters, while making hurtful taunts to the servants. He came from Spain and was characterized as boastful and cowardly.

His costume mimicked that of 16th century Spanish officers, with a large sword. The masks were very picturesque.

The lovers

One of them used to be the daughter of Pants and, the other, of the Doctor. They used to carry bucolic names, like Angelica and Fabricio. They did not wear masks, thus differentiating themselves from the rest of the characters.

References

1. Romero Sangster, Nicolás. The Commedia dell'Arte. Obtained from expreso.ec
2. Magazine of Arts. The comedy of Art. Obtained from revistadeartes.com.ar
3. Trampitan. The commedia dell'arte. Obtained from trampitan.es
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Commedia dell'arte. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. TheatreHistory.com. The Commedia dell'arte. Retrieved from theatrehistory.com
6. Drama Online. Commedia dell'Arte. Retrieved from dramaonlinelibrary.com
7. Italy Mask. Commedia dell'Arte Characters. Retrieved from italymask.co.nz
8. Hale, Cher. What You Need to Know About Commedia dell'Arte. Retrieved from thoughtco.com