Page 32 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

Arlechino woos Francisquina. The lovers are spied on by Pantalone

The situation was vastly different By the end of the 17th century it was
abroad, especially in France, where no longer a dominant influence.
Italian companies won the admiration Efforts were made to sustain it.
of both the aristocracy and the Goldoni tried by equipping it with
populace. In London, troupes definitive texts, while retaining the
performed before two monarchs - essential attributes of performance.
Elizabeth I and James I. They also Gozzi, on the other hand, adopted the
attained success in the courtyard methods and the masks and mingled
theatres of Madrid and later won favor them with fairy-tale scenarios. This
The character Covielli in typical costume
in Germany. proved popular for a time and did
and mask
Captain Parolles in Shakespeare’s constitute a revival of sorts.
All’s Well That Ends Well (c.1601-1605) Inevitably though, it became clear
Other Influences is modelled on Il Capitano. Much of that the spirit of the commedia dell'arte
The distinction between comic the plot of A Comedy of Errors wasn't really lost but had infused other
inheritance and man’s natural comic (c.1592-1594) has the imprint, as does theatrical forms. Its hallmarks -
tendency is often imprecise. However, a scene between Bianca and Lucentio vivaciousness, spontaneity and
it can be confidently asserted that the in The Taming of the Shrew (c.1593- identifiable characters, ensure a revered
zanni are identifiable in all fools of 1594). status in the history of live theatre. ★
European farce. Sometimes even the Moliere (1622-1673) created a cast
word zanni is discernable in the name of commedia dell’arte characters and References
of the comic characters. Giovanni, Jan, stories of his own. Consider Tartuffe, A Concise History of the Theatre.
Jean, John, Hanswurst and Ivanovishka The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, Phyllis Hartnoll
were all variously assigned to comic George Dandin and the Rogueries of Golden Ages of the Theater
exponents. Scapin as principal examples. K Macgowan, W Melnitz, G Armstrong
Commedia dell’arte was immensely Evolution of the Form Oxford Concise Dictionary of Art
popular with the Italian people. Yet it Terms. Michael Clarke
Later, in the Romantic Age, The A to Z of Great Writers.
did not significantly affect the Italian
knockabout prankster comedians traded Tom Payne
theatre or literature. It was not until
in their rags for silks and satins to
almost a century later that the Italian
become courtly creatures of a more
playwrights Goldoni and Gozzi took up
elegant theatrical world. By the time
the challenge and embraced the form in
the best of the Commedia dell'arte was
their works.
absorbed into European theatre, it had
declined in its purest form.

32 2009 CINEMARECORD