What Is a Stock Character in Commedia Dell Arte?

Commedia dell'arte is an improvised comedic theatre grade that flourished in Italia in the 1500'southward. The exact origins of Commedia are fuzzy and hard to pin down. There is not much documented previous to the 16th century. The term itself (Commedia dell'arte) wasn't put to common use until the 18th century. Information technology is generally acknowledged that the form solidified in Italy in the 1550's and reached its acme in the 1650'due south.

Despite an opaque history, the elements that ascertain Commedia are quite clear:

• improvised performances based on scenarios – actors worked off a base of operations outline and fabricated up their lines.
• stock characters – the characters were always the same, only the situations changed.
• limited themes – honey, coin, or food were the base of about every scenario.
• use of mask – the mask defined the characters.
• employ of lazzi – curt comedic physical bits within the story.
• utilise of mime, acrobatics, and music.

The key to creating a Commedia grapheme is to remember that they are stock characters. In every scenario or story they're in, the characters remain the same. They take the aforementioned attitude, the same expect, the same drive, the aforementioned physical action.

That means you would be able to recognize a Commedia stock character in an instant by how they movement, what they wear, and how they act.

Creating A Commedia Graphic symbol: Step One

What category volition you choose?

Commedia characters are fixed types who autumn into one of three categories:

• The Servants (eg: Arlecchino or Columbina)
• The Masters (eg: Pantalone)
• The Lovers (eg: Isabella and Flavio )

The masters are normally foolish greedy old men, and the servants are hungry and mischievous. The immature lovers are always in love. Most of the characters wear masks, but fifty-fifty those without masks (e.g. the Lovers) treat their personas every bit masks. In Commedia, the characteristics of a character (such as a walk, a pose, or a gesture) are only similar wearing a mask.

Creating a Commedia Character: Step Two

Pick a character

After you choose a category, you need to choose a character. Each graphic symbol has divers attributes that never change. And then you lot're non creating a new commedia graphic symbol, yous're choosing an existing graphic symbol and inhabiting his or her attributes.

Hither are a couple of examples.

The Masters

Pantalone

Description: Old Venetian Merchant. Rich and greedy miser. Obsessed with money. E'er afterward women and thinks he'southward skillful at it. Gullible and oft tricked.

Costume: Red pants and superlative with a flowing black cloak. Has a money bag.

Mask: Long pointed nose. Frequently has a moustache and bushy eyebrows.

Movement: Leads with the brow and has a hunched dorsum with bent knees. Call up crow or chicken. Fluttery hands, which he tries to contain by clasping them behind his back. Always bent over, trying to proceed his money safe!

The Servants

Arlecchino

Clarification: Servant, poor, always wanting money, always hungry. Carries a bat/slapstick. Stupid and smart at the same time. Doesn't want to piece of work but eager to please.

Costume: Tight fitting patchwork/colourful costume.

Mask: Black mask. Small eyes. Catlike face up.

Motion: Low status. Very acrobatic and quick. Leads with his knees and is very active, ever on the move, never moving in a straight line. Think monkey.

Columbina

Description: Servant. Name ways Trivial Dove. A female version of Arlecchino – quick wit, vain, never in love. She is often spiteful. Frequently a retainer to Isabella, an Innamorata. Usually the smartest character on stage.

Costume: Oft dressed in similar colours to Arlecchino. Cap and apron. Dressed equally a lady's maid.

Mask: Sometimes she wears a mask and sometimes non. If she does, information technology's a small one that only covers the optics.

Movement: Though she's a servant, and therefore low status, her movements correspond to her strong, quick-witted character. She stands with a hip artsy to the side, hands on hips. She moves with quick, strong steps.

The Lovers

Isabella and Flavio

Description: These characters are very much in dear with love. They love each other, they love themselves. They carry mirrors so that they tin expect at themselves as often as possible. They act completely over the elevation in their infatuations (like Soap Opera characters). They take no notion of the consequences of their deportment, nor are they all that vivid.

Costume: Think Italian Renaissance Princes and Princesses. They are covered head to toe, perchance excessively, in the best fashions and finery.

Mask: They don't article of clothing masks, just practise article of clothing makeup. They are e'er young and attractive.

Movement: High condition. Whatsoever they practice, it'due south melodramatic and over the peak. They glide instead of walk. They don't stand, they pose. They show pride in every move they make.

Creating A Commedia Graphic symbol: Footstep Three

Define the Concrete

You have a category and a character. Your next step is to ascertain that graphic symbol. Exercise the pose, the gestures and the movements of your grapheme. Anyone watching should exist able to identify your chosen character.

Exercise: Divide students into pairs. The pairs accept to place the physical characteristics of their called character and write them down. So students practice the pose, gestures and movements of their character. Partner A takes on their persona while Partner B observes. Partner A is to walk around the room, sit down, stand, interact with objects – all in character . It is Partner B'due south job to place when Partner A strays from the character. The pairs then switch. Partner B takes on their persona and Partner A observes. The pairs switch back and forth in social club to practice the character fully.

At the finish of a designated period of fourth dimension, turn this from a pairs exercise into a total grade exercise. Everyone moves virtually the room at the same time (in character) and starts to interact with each other. Remind students of their status. If they are playing a master character, how practise they care for the servants? If they are a retainer character, how are they going to treat The Lovers? What is their defined personality trait?

One time everyone is comfortable moving in character, have students interact in character. Get them to greet each other, talk most the weather, engage in small-scale talk. They accept to stay in character and they have to react to each other co-ordinate to their condition. How would a servant talk to a principal? How would a master talk to 1 of the lovers?

Creating A Commedia Character: Footstep Four

Create a Lazzi

Every commedia actor has a number of lazzi in their repertoire. A lazzi is a physical comedic fleck in the eye of the play, unrelated to the plot. The 3 chief themes for Commedia are love, money and food in the extreme – so that means lazzi are as well taken to the extreme. They are acrobatic, exaggerated, and sometimes obscene.

In one case students accept fully good the physical side to their grapheme, give them this lazzi to create.

The Lazzi of the sandwich

Your graphic symbol enters a room. On a tabular array in the middle of the room, there is a beautiful sandwich. It has a number of layers. It smells delicious. It looks perfect. It does not belong to your character, but yous are then hungry and yous want that sandwich. In character, examine the room. Is the owner of the sandwich nearby? You approach the sandwich. Interact with the sandwich. And eat the sandwich. You expect around the room and leave.

Remind students that they have to stay in character at all times. The signal of the exercise is to show how their character would interact with a sandwich. How Pantalone completes this practice would be different than the way Columbina completes it or one of the lovers.

Keep students in pairs, and then that ane partner is always observing the other. Give students time to rehearse and then present.

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Source: https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/create-a-commedia-dellarte-character/

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