Commedia Dell Arte

The Art of Comedy

Vocabulary• battacio: Slap stick. Carried by Arlecchino.• battute: Set dialogue that always happens

between two specific characters.• burla: Improvised comic bit or practical joke done

by the servants, often involving 2 actors.• innamorati: The lovers. These were unmasked

characters. Males are innamorato, females are innamorata.

• scenario: The outline of the play or scene.• stock characters: Commedia characters are set

and never change from play to play. They follow the same set of personality quirks, gestures, movements, masks and costumes regardless of who plays them.

• vecchio: The masters, usually old men.

Magnifico• He is the leader of the city and

looks down upon everyone else. • He looks on others with a turned

down nose. • Leads his walk with his head/nose

Pantalone

• He is an old merchant always wanting more…usually money.• He is physically young:

– Hands: to count his money– Neck: to watch his back– Feet: to celebrate

• His walk is lead with his chin and knees, with a bent back

Dottore• was a caricature of learning—

pompous and fraudulent.• He leads with his big belly• He has so much knowledge that

he has to share it all of the time• He is slow moving, like a

cow

2nd Actor and Actress

• Children of Pantalone or Dottore• Well educated and wealthy• Young and pretty • In love with being in love• Not wise in the world, not street

smart

Ill Captaino

• A caricature of the professional soldier– bold, swaggering, but cowardly

• Leads with his chest• Walks like a big man, but will run away

from a fight

Brighella

• Master Servent– Takes his job very seriously – Arlecchino‘s “master”

• Sophisticated, tight walk• Will do anything for money– What is in it for him

Arlecchino

• acrobat and a wit, childlike and amorous. He wore a cat–like mask and motley colored clothes and carried a bat or wooden sword.

• Also named Harlequin

Columbina• She is Harlequin's wife• a comic servant

• She was also known to wear heavy makeup around her eyes and carry a tambourine which she could use to fend off the amorous advances

of Pantalone.• She is very smart and can manipulate

people into getting what she wants

Zanni

• The servants •Bird like walk•Very curious•Wants to please•Hungry and poor

Lazzi or Lazzo • A physical comic bit, or joke, in the middle of

the play unrelated to the plot. • Each actor would have a number of lazzi jokes

or movements– acrobatic, exaggerated, and used

to keep the audiences attention.