Theatre

The  term  Commedia  dellarte  interprets  as  the  comedy  of  skills  which  is  an  inventive  style  of  that  commenced  in  the  sixteenth  century  Europe,  thereby,  flourishing  for  two  successful  centuries.  The  actors  which  performed  were  from  traveling  organizations,  and  performed  outdoors  in  public  squares,  making  use  of  usual  backdrops  and  prop  ups.  The  costumes  used  in  these  plays  efficiently  defined  the  personality  of  every  character.  The  interpretation  comedy  of  skills  basically  talks  about  the  skills  developed  by  professional  comic  characters.  Each  of  them  had  their  stock  of  jests,  funny  speeches,  comic  slights,  and  spectacular  acts  to  obtain  from  their  performances.  Worldwide  prominent  silent  comedians  such  as  Charlie  Chaplin  and  Harold  Lloyd  made  use  of  the  acrobatic  dynamic  comedy  of  commedia  in  their  pictures.  The  enthusiastic  humor  of  these  commedia  groups  is  analogous  to  the  work  by  other  contemporary  groups  such  as  Second  City  and  the  Groundlings  (Smith,  1912).

Even  though  the  precise  origins  of  commedia  dellarte  are  ambiguous,  it  is  believed  that  it  was  persuaded  by  ancient  Roman  and  Greek  comedy  as  well  as  the  medieval  conventions  of  carnival  entertainers  (Katritzky,  2007).  The  initial  performances  of  commedia  dellarte  as  recorded  occurred  in  Italy  in  the  16th  century.  It  is  when  that  the  society  of  Italy  swarmed  with  literary,  technical,  and  scholarly  academies  which  called  themselves  by  names  like  the  Illuminati  referring  to  the  enlightened,  Intrepidi  meaning  the  intrepid,  or  Animosi  meaning  the  animated.  Most  of  the  works  talking  about  commedia  dellarte  are  inclusive  of  lengthy  portrayals  of  its  journey  throughout  the  French  comedy,  where  it  marked  its  successful  presence  for  more  than  100  years.  All  throughout  this  time-span,  commedia  dellarte  experienced  an  enhancement  process  where  it  fragmented  itself  in  accordance  with  brief  descriptions  of  European  countries  such  as  England,  Spain,  or  Poland.  The  researches  and  analyses  which  talk  about  commedia  are  principally  associated  with  reresenting  the  commedia  dellarte  as  it  appeared  live.  For  the  reason  that  commedia  dellarte  had  not  much  influence  on  these  theatres  in  comparison  to  France  where  its  impact  was  inclined  more  in  direction  of  the  development  of  native  theaters  as  well  as  the  admiration  of  commedia  dellarte  characters  in  the  dominion  of  travesty  and  buffoonery  (Nicoll,  1963),  it  is  not  astonishing  to  see  that  there  is  not  much  research  performed  in  this  field.

Influence  of  Commedia  dellarte  on  French  Comedy  (17th-18th  Century)
Commedia  dellarte  has  been  a  popular  form  of  entertainment  throughout  the  period  of  Renaissance,  the  period  when  its  popularity  was  at  its  highest.    Throughout  Italy,  it  gained  tremendous  prosperity  and  status  in  other  European  countries,  chiefly  France.  The  influence  of  commedia  dellarte  on  French  classic  comedy  can  be  witnessed  in  Pantomimes  and  Harlequinades.  This  form  of  theatre  sustained  the  early  18th  century  just  by  means  of  its  extensive  influence  on  written  dramatic  appearances.  Commedia  dellarte  influenced  the  French  comedy  by  portraying  real  characters  as  drawn  from  remote  antiques  down  to  the  modern  days,  thus,  bringing  about  an  incessant  tradition  of  terrific  humor  which  is  quite  critical  by  spirit  or  even  low  sometimes,  and  lay  exposed  the  core  paucity  of  mankind.  The  companies  involved  in  featuring  commedia  dellarte  generally  involved  10  men,  comprising  of  7  males  and  3  females.  The  performers  played  their  roles  for  the  audience  in  two  open  squares,  with  no  scripts,  but  only  written  scenarios  that  drew  out  the  action.  It  is  making  use  of  these  sketches  that  the  actors  managed  the  dialogues  and  actions.

For  the  duration  of  16th  century  in  Italy,  the  actors  took  up  folk  forms,  thereby,  managing  masking,  dance  and  music,  and  developing  a  theatrical  genus.  According  to  Rudlin  (1994),  commedia  dellarte  being  shot  out  of  inventiveness,  this  genus  was  established  with  no  conscious  sense  of  culture  as  a  common  denominator  between  performer  and  audience.  However,  in  accordance  with  the  18th  century  critic  statements,  commedia  dellarte  involved  particular  roles  and  attributes  which  were  previously  set  as  a  type  of  attributive  delegates  of  some  specific  district  or  town  (Boston  Lyric  Opera  2010,  1-4).  The  personality  of  the  character  was  inclusive  of  a  particular  vernacular  of  the  town  represented  by  them.  Whats  more,  each  of  those  characters  has  one  costume  and  mask  which  delineates  the  role  of  their  character.  Hence,  we  can  say  that  commedia  dellarte  possesses  three  key  stock  roles,  namely,  the  servant,  the  master  and  inamorata,  and  the  characters  themselves  which  are  called  masks.

Commedia  dellarte  sustained  its  prominence  in  France  all  throughout  the  17th  century,  where  it  developed  its  established  repertoire,  thereby,  growing  into  a  number  of  configurations  across  the  entire  European  continent.  According  to  Boston  Lyric  Opera  (2010,  1-4),  as  an  example  we  can  talk  about  Pantomime  which  prospered  in  the  18th  century,  owing  its  origins  to  the  character  stereotypes  of  the  commedia,  Harlequin  in  particular.  Moreover,  the  puppet  shows  which  are  still  prominent  in  England  owe  their  prosperity  to  the  Pulcinella  mask  as  originated  in  Nepolitan  versions  of  the  form.  On  the  other  hand,  the  commedia  marks  and  plots  in  Italy  originated  into  the  opera  buffa,  along  with  various  plots  of  Rossini,  Puccini  and,  Verdi.  According  to  the  theatre  historians  and  researchers,  commedia  dellarte  has  established  itself  as  a  response  to  the  political  as  well  as  financial  emergency  of  the  cinquecento  which,  eventually,  made  it  the  first  entirely  professional  form  of  theatre,  leading  to  successful  prominence  in  French  classical  comedy.

Followed  by  its  distinct  influence  on  comedy  and  adoption  in  France,  commedia  dellarte  influenced  many  plays,  particularly  those  by  Moliere  (Rudlin,  1994).  A  comedy  play  by  Moliere  called  Tartuffe,  involved  the  classic  commedia  scenario  where  a  father  arranged  his  daughter  in  a  marriage  to  a  person  much  older  than  she  was.  However,  the  daughter  was  already  in  love  with  a  man  who  was  her  age.  Such  kinds  of  stock  characters  are  also  found  in  Molieres  plays  which  included  the  innocent  lovers,  and  wise  servant.  It  is  the  success  of  these  characters  that  they  have  been  adapted  in  other  countries  as  well.  For  example,  Punch  and  Judy  show  in  England  is  the  most  famous  adaptation  of  those  characters  (Rudlin,  1994).

The  quest  for  comic  leads  essentially  to  a  suggestion  of  the  poignant.  The  mannerisms  that  were  adopted  along  with  all  the  inventiveness  are  based  on  the  comprehension  of  emotional  propensities  that  are  propagated  during  the  seventeenth  century  (Parker,  1999).  These  propensities  are  fundamentally  evident  in  the  use  of  masks  as  a  permanent  indicator  of  character.  Still,  there  is  no  divergence  between  such  typology  and  the  characterization  of  the  role  in  some  sketches.  Where  the  mask  is  the  character  that  delineates  the  limits  within  which  the  character  is  expected  to  perform,  encouraging  inventiveness  is  based  on  the  mask  itself  (Parker,  1999).  Even  though  the  tangible  masks  are  not  suggestive  of  specific  emotions,  they,  in  any  case,  convey  the  idea  of  emotional  propensity  which  was  completely  credible  to  a  French  audience  of  the  17th  century.

Moliere  and  Commedia  dellarte
The  study  of  commedia  dellarte  is  incomplete  without  mention  of  Moliere.  The  education  pursued  by  Moliere  enabled  him  to  become  cognizant  of  the  components  of  comedy,  particularly  commedia  dellarte.  Whats  more,  not  only  does  Moliere  provide  its  audiences  with  a  view  of  his  own  life  and  education,  he  also  exemplifies  the  forms  of  Greek  and  Roman  comedy  which  are  fundamental  to  the  genre  of  commedia  dellarte.  The  genre  has  successfully  evolved  since  the  time  of  Moliere,  and  is  not  only  germane  in  todays  times,  but  also  an  influential  form  of  expression  within  the  21st  century  entertainment  (Klass  2003,  1-4).  The  Italian  style  characters  in  those  plays  such  as  the  clown,  lovers,  and  comic  father,  have  been  brought  into  use  to  add  that  comic  effect.  Another  play  by  Moliere  called  Scapin  is  believed  to  have  apparent  effect  of  commedia  dellarte  where  the  story  talks  about  two  sons  who  have  both  married  privately  in  their  fathers  absence.  Both  of  them  are  reliant  on  the  fraudulently  crafty  servant,  Scapin,  in  order  to  successfully  get  out  of  the  matter.  In  similarity  to  the  usual  Italian  comedy,  this  one  ends  somewhat  contendedly,  with  the  servant,  Scapin,  one  way  or  the  other  getting  acclaim  and  appearing  silly  (Ellis,  2003).

Ellis  (2003)  also  searched  that  probably,  the  first  play  of  Moliere  that  introduced  him  to  success  was  the  five-act  comedy  in  1662  called  The  School  from  Wives  which  involved  comic  disasters  grounded  by  a  man  called  Arnoplhe  who  was  afraid  of  betrayal,  and  thus,  requests  that  Agnes,  his  ward,  be  raised  as  simply  as  possible,  so  that  he  can  marry  her  in  the  end.  With  a  strong  craving  for  male  attention  after  spending  her  childhood  in  a  convent,  Agnes  fell  in  love  with  Horace,  a  friend  of  Arnolphe,  having  absolutely  no  idea  that  Arnolphe  wanted  her  for  himself.  With  such  a  strong  scenario,  the  play  received  absolute  attention,  with  King  Louis  XIV  bestowing  Moliere  an  annual  pension  for  his  work.  The  anatomy  of  the  plays  by  Moliere  examines  a  neo-classical  outline.  In  usual  plays,  a  new  scene  is  usually  marked  by  a  characters  entrance  or  exit.  Also,  there  is  a  principal  character  which  will  usually  feature  in  the  last  scene  of  the  act  so  as  to  represent  the  main  plot  of  the  act  more  authoritatively.  However,  on  the  other  hand,  as  a  parallel  prototype,  Moliere  featured  into  his  acts  nothing  different  from  a  contemporary  vaudeville  or  cabaret,  but  with  the  sequence  of  independent  turns  such  as  comic  routines,  dances  and  songs,  acrobatics,  or  animal  wonders.  He  was  a  wonderful  producer  to  have  provided  the  actors  with  the  strongest  opportunities,  thereby,  composing  a  number  of  solos,  duets,  quartets,  etc.  for  many  scenes  of  his  plays.  This  optional  structure  as  derived  in  part  from  commedia  dellarte,  is  similar  to  the  epic  kinds  brought  into  use  post  two  centuries  by  Bretch  and  Piscator  along  with  their  successors.  However,  even  though  it  is  concealed  in  the  formal  segregation  into  the  neo-classical  scenarios,  it  is  possible  to  recognize  its  delicate  presence  even  in  those  dramatic  poetries  of  Moliere  which  were  even  more  ambitious.

Almost  all  the  plays  of  Molieres  are  one-act  comedies  which  were  performed  with  an  intention  of  lightening  the  mood  post  a  critical  subject  matter.  These  plays  were  short  in  length  and  efficaciously  featured  commedia  dellarte  stock  characters  with  heavy  banter.  Apart  from  the  ones  discussed  above,  the  best  known  plays  of  Moliere  include  School  for  Husbands,  Sganarelle,  and  The  Pretentious  Young  Ladies.  On  the  other  hand,  in  modern  theatre,  a  couple  of  Molieres  plays  are  usually  united  so  as  to  create  an  evening  of  one-acts,  which  have  become  tremendously  popular  with  modern  theatre  audiences.  Molieres  plays  have  introduced  political  and  societal  wittiness  into  the  society  which  is  believed  to  efficiently  suit  the  modern  matters  of  concern.  Theyve  also  served  as  paramount  teaching  implements  and  are  often  brought  into  use  in  order  to  bring  in  young  artists  and  performers  to  the  world  of  French  travesty,  along  with  the  skills  that  are  required  for  rich  scale  verbal  mockeries  (Ellis,  2003).

The  achievements  of  Moliere  are  so  solid  and  justifiable  that  they  cannot  be  undermined  by  absurd  revelations.  His  acts  appear  to  be  full  of  single-minded  search  for  inventiveness,  for  that  specific  deepness  that  laughter  can  propose  to,  as  a  minimum,  those  audiences  who  are  not  too  biased  against  it,  and  particularly,  enjoy  serious  drama.  Moliere  has  attained  that  by  picking  up  and  fusing  all  of  his  source  matter  in  ways  which  make  noteworthy  and  give  it  more  significance  than  it  had  previously  when  it  was  a  segment  of  the  unknown  usual  repertoire  (Andrews  2005,  14).  In  the  same  way,  there  are  many  instances  when  he  has  just  left  his  stories  and  approaches  behind,  thereby,  making  way  into  domains  which,  in  his  time,  were  unparalleled  on  the  stag  of  commedia  dellarte.  These  are  some  of  the  particular  things  that  were  introduced  to  the  European  Comedy  which  were  acknowledgeable  even  though  they  have  not  yet  been  appropriately  set  down.  However,  Moliere  can  be  envisaged  as  the  paramount  comic  dramatist  who  was  not  created  by  the  regions  he  flourished  his  art  in.  Moliere,  in  every  sense,  captured  some  of  the  repertoire,  thereby,  rendering  his  art  the  significance  and  immortality  which  it  deserved  and  has  attained.

All  throught  its  two-century  zenith,  commedia  dellarte  has  contributed  to  the  hullabaloo  that  has  circumscribed  its  origins.  The  most  domineering  feature  of  commedia  dellarte  which  enabled  it  to  reign  over  classic  comedy  throughout  Europe  has  been  variously  recognized  as  its  commercialism,  improvisation,  professionalism,  characteristic  stock  prototypes,  introduction  of  females  as  actors,  and  the  formation  of  troupes  (Kartrizky,  2006).  After  its  total  development,  the  commedia  dellarte  became  the  product  of  teamwork  of  professional  actors  who  were  associated  with  travelling  groups,  and  provided  dialogues  for  performances  managed  around  scenes  involving  the  stock  characters.  The  best  actors  beat  their  characters  with  individuality,  freshness  and  radiance,  thereby,  adding  value  to  the  pieces  which  were  otherwise  insignificant.  Truly,  commedia  dellarte  introduced  the  professional  actor  into  classic  comedy  in  Europe.