Commedia dell’Arte

In contrast to opera, which is chiefly a musical form, another equally popular type of entertainment in Renaissance Italy was pure theater. This is commedia dell’arte , which is Italian for “comedy of art” and means “play of professional artists” (as opposed to the kind of scholarly play performed by nonprofessionals).

Commedia companies usually consisted of ten performers-seven men and three women, though the number sometimes varied. They were traveling troupes, possibly the successors of Greek and Roman mimes, or clowns. Although there were instances when commedia performers staged serious forms of drama, they usually staged comedies, and through the years the term “commedia dell’arte” has come to be associated primarily with comedy.

Commedia thrived in Italy over a considerable period of time, from 1550 to 1750. It was not a written literary form but, rather, consisted of improvised presentations. Scenarios-short scripts without dialogue-were written by members of a company, and these scripts provided plot outlines; in other words, the performers had no set text but invented the words and actions as they went along. Over a thousand such scenarios survive from the Italian Renaissance. Using these outlines, actors would create the dialogue and would be expected to move the action along through improvisation.

The conventions of commedia dell’arte made the actors’ task simpler than its improvisatory nature would suggest. For one thing, commedia actors played the same stock characters throughout most of their careers. Among the popular comic figures were a lecherous, miserly old Venetian, Pantalone ; a foolish pedant who was always involved in his neighbor’s affairs, Dottore ; a cowardly, braggart soldier, Capitano; and sometimes foolish, sometimes sly servants known as zanni. Arlecchino, or Harlequin was the most popular of the comic servants. Commedia scenarios also included serious young lovers whose romances were often blocked by Pantalone and Dottore. Since the performers fused their own personalities with those of the characters, improvisation was easier. And since the performers worked together, playing the same characters for extended periods of time, they became adept at creating comic interaction on the spur of the moment.

Improvisation was also made easier because all the commedia characters employed standard lazzi- repeated bits of physical comic activity or “business.” Capitano, for example, would get entangled with his sword. (Twentieth-century film and television comics had their own lazzi; the great American film clowns-Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers, for example-had pieces of physical business that they repeated in all their performances.)

In addition, commedia actors used conventional entrance and exit speeches as well as prepared musical duets. Surviving from the Renaissance are manuscripts put together by commedia actors that contain jokes, comic business, and repeated scenes and speeches. (These books were referred to by many different names, but the most common term for them was zibaldoni.)

Costuming also facilitated improvisation. Commedia characters all wore traditional costumes, such as Harlequin’s patchwork jacket and Dottore’s academic robe, so that audiences could recognize them immediately. Usually, each character would wear the same outfit, and its exaggerated details reflected his or her comic personality. A significant addition to Harlequin’s costume was the slapstick, a wooden sword used in comic fight scenes. Sometimes the slapstick consisted of two thin slats of wood, one on top of the other; when a performer was struck with it, the effect was greatly exaggerated by the sound of the two pieces of wood smacking together. Today we use the term “slapstick” for comedies emphasizing physical horseplay or roughness. Masks, covering either the whole face or part of the face, were an essential element of commedia costumes. Pantalone’s mask, for example, always had a huge hooked nose. The young lovers, however, did not wear masks.

Commedia dell’arte was enormously popular with audiences. One measure of its success was its popularity outside Italy, particularly in France.

The most successful commedia companies were often organized by families and chose names that were meant to characterize them: I Gelosi (The Zealous), I Fideli (The Faithful), I Confidenti (The Confident), and I Accesi (The Inspired). Most companies were based on a profit- sharing plan: a company’s members shared in its profits as well as its expenses and losses. Commedia performers were flexible; they could perform in town squares, in unused theater spaces, in the homes of wealthy merchants, or at royal courts.

According to paragraphs 1 and 2, all of the following are true about commedia dell’arte EXCEPT:

AIt included scholarly plays performed by nonprofessional artists.

BIt was as popular as the opera in Renaissance Italy.

CIt usually involved ten performers with more males than females.

DIt included serious plays but mostly focused on comedies.

The word “set” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Acomplicated

Bfixed

Cprinted

Dcommon

According to paragraph 4, which of the following was a reason that commedia dell’arte was less difficult for actors than one would expect?

AActors played characters that did not vary greatly from play to play.

BActors were highly skilled at creating new characters.

CActors imitated well-known people.

DActors created a comic interaction when they forgot what to say.

The word “employed” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Aavoided

Bused

Cimitated

Dwatched

Why does the author mention “Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers”?

ATo contrast film and television comedy with the commedia style of performance

BTo show that comic techniques have improved since the commedia dell’arte

CTo give examples of modern actors who used repeated actions for comic effect

DTo prove that the Capitano character was found even in twentieth-century theater

According to paragraph 7, what made it possible for the audience to recognize the character of Dottore as soon as he appeared?

AHe had a mask with a huge nose.

BHe carried a wooden sword.

CHis clothes were made of patches.

DHe wore a university gown.

According to paragraph 7, the term “slapstick” became generalized to mean

Athe use of masks to emphasize character

Ban improvisation of comic dialogue and action

Ca kind of comedy emphasizing physical action

Dthe comic character of the sly servant

It can be inferred from paragraph 9 that the commedia dell’arte companies

Acooperated with one another in arranging performances

Bperformed on elaborate stages with changing scenery

Cwere paid for by wealthy merchants

Dmight not pay their actors if audiences were small

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Each character had his or her own typical lazzi.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

Commedia dell’arte was a form of theater that was popular in Italy from 1550 to 1750.

ACommedia performances were amusing plays in which the actors created most of the dialogue as they performed.

BCommedia plays were based on the interaction of the same group of characters who appeared in many different scenarios.

CCommedia plays and characters had their origins in Greek and Roman dramas that became more comic over time.

DBecause actors performed together over long periods of time, they became as close as family members, sharing ideas, costumes, and profits with each other.

ECommedia dell’arte was popular in France as well as in Italy, where it is still enormously attractive to modern audiences.

FThe success of commedia performances depended on the use of standard jokes, repeated scenes and actions, masks, and easily recognized costumes.

答案请付费后查阅：

此处内容已隐藏，请付费后查看

文章版权归作者所有，未经允许请勿转载。

THE END