Facts about Commedia dell’arte from your research:
Commedia dell’arte
A 16th century improvised comic form from Italy
Key Terms
Stance: how a character stands
Gait: how a character moves
What are we doing?• Learning the basics of the artform
Commedia dell’Arte
• Recreating some of the characters using the bold, exaggerated body language typical of Commedia dell’arte
• Improvising a short “lazzi” (sketch) using a range of Commedia characters, and speaking in “Gromalot” (gibberish)
“Gromalot”Commedia dell’arte’s gibberish language
Q: What does “gibberish” mean?
A: Nonsense language, uses tone of voice alone rather than words to communicate
Q: Can you think of any examples of characters using gibberish?
A: The farmer from “Shaun the Sheep” is a good example. Watch him in action.
Q: What does he use apart from tone of voice to help communicate his message?
A: Gesture!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWBuDaDqIs
Using “Gromalot” (gibberish)Q: Why do you think Commedia dell’arte sometimes used “Gromalot” rather than Italian?
A: So the plays could tour to other countries and still be understood!
In pairs, explore how to conduct a simple conversation using “Gromalot”.
Remember the Farmer from Shaun the Sheep: “Gromalot” communicates through TONE OF VOICE and GESTURE, but NO REAL WORDS.Can the audience still work out roughly what you’re saying?
National Theatre:Commedia dell’arte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJEwuurzDe4
This film is called “Body shapes in Commedia dell’Arte”.
•Watch these acting students working with a Commedia dell’arte specialist from the National Theatre Company in London.•What skills do the students display when exploring the Commedia characters?•Aim to use these skills yourself as we explore these characters!
Pantalone• Lead with NOSE and FINGERTIPS
• Old man, very mean, obsessed with money• Hunched back• Gait is a bird-like walk• Bird-like twitching head • Stance is leaning forward, head looking up,
hands protecting his money bags at waist• “Money, who said money?”• At bad news, or the slightest touch,
Pantalone falls on his back and curls up like a beetle, unable to get up unless someone helps him.
Dottore• Lead with STOMACH• A very bad doctor, able to diagnose
only death or pregnancy• Very fat, stance is leaning back• Hands twiddle on his large stomach• Gait is a waddle, legs far apart, in
figure of eight• Weight on heels• Goldfish mouth• Very pompous, talks (waffles)
constantly
Zanni• LEAD with FOREHEAD
• Servants• Love practical jokes• Stance is a sleeping position, with one leg
resting on the other, leaning on elbow• Gait is a run with knees far apart, hands
held up as if supporting trays, or trudging, as if carrying a large bag
• Stupid, make very basic mistakes• Very lazy, greedy, lusty, clumsy
Arlecchino• Lead with EARS
• “Chancer” servant, listening out• Colombina’s boyfriend• More intelligent than Zannis• Tries to trick his masters but his
plots usually fail• Gait is a zig-zag• Stance is very acrobatic, ready
to run at any moment, knees bent
• Displays cat-like agility
Brighella• LEAD with CHEST
• Head servant• Arrogant• Bossy• In charge of the zannis• In love with himself (womaniser)• A snob – will do anything to
ingratiate himself to the aristocrats (lovers) or the masters (Pantalone and Dottore)
Lovers
• Lead with EYES
• Aristocrats• Very vain, always admiring themselves in the
mirror, adjusting their appearance• Stance is very balletic, like a fashion model’s
pose, elegant• Gait is also very balletic, very light on the feet• Female lover is usually unmarried, daughter of
either Pantalone or Dottore• Male lover is usually handsome but sometimes
poor, and wants to marry the female lover mainly for her money
Capitano• Lead with PELVIS
• A soldier• Claims to have “killed many men, loved
many women.”• Stance is very confident, pelvis forward,
fists on hips, legs wide apart• Gait is a manly stride• When startled, screams like a girl, flaps
hands above head, jumps very high and runs away
Columbina• Lead with HIPS
• Female lover’s MAID• Girlfriend of Arlecchino• Stance is very confident, hands
on hips, shoulders back• Gait is light, quick, efficient,
pretty• The most intelligent character of
all the Commedia roles.• Playful, cheeky, impudent, flirty
Exploring visual comedy: set pieces in Commedia dell’arte• The double take (look quick, look long)
• The comedy run • The comedy fight• The advance (knee-rub)• The faint
Basil Fawlty and Manuel in Fawlty Towers are modern equivalents of Brighella and Zanni.
Make a lazzo: a short, improvised, comic scenario in a Commedia dell’arte play
• Use “gromalot” (gibberish language) which will force you to communicate a lot with body language as well as tone of voice.
• Use the exaggerated Commedia body language for your character (gait & stance)
• Keep the plot SIMPLE.• Remember the differing statuses
of the characters should be very clear.• Try to include some “set pieces” in your lazzi:
• The double take (look quick, look long) • The comedy run • The comedy fight• The advance (knee-rub)• The faint
Homework• Describe how,you played a commedia
dell’arte character in your group’s lazzi. Ensure you include information about about the character’s:
• STANCE
• GAIT
• MANNERISMS (characteristic gestures)
• LEADING BODY PART
• STATUS (in comparison to other characters in the lazzi).
Useful Commedia films
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_0TAXWt8hY
• World of Commedia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6EaoPMANQM
Clip of Basil Fawlty and Manuel (modern day Brighella and Zanni)
Commedia dell’arte and STATUS
The comedy in Commedia dell’arte is entirely generated from situations using characters with differing STATUSES.
Q: What does status mean?
A: How important a character is (or thinks they are) compared to the other characters in the scene. The “pecking order.”
How does this picture illustrate the idea of a “pecking order”?
Commedia dell’arte and STATUS
Imagine a scale of 1-10 across the room. 1 is the lowest status. 10 is the highest status.
As these Commedia characters appear, volunteer to come up and put a number to their status. Of course, you need to demonstrate the stance of that commedia character.
Other Commedia characters may disagree with where you have placed yourself. If this is the case, argue back to defend your position!
.
Status or “pecking order”
Where on the STATUS scale (1=lowest, 10=highest) should these Commedia
characters be?
When we put these characters on the STATUS scale, who put themselves higher than they deserved and were moved down? What does this tell you about the character?
Status range of Commedia characters.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Zanni Arlecchino Brighella Capitano Colombina Pantalone Dottore Lovers
Forehead Ears Chest Pelvis Hips Nose Stomach Eyes
Next, choose characters for a scene that demonstrate a RANGE of different statuses.
Improvise a scene (with conventional speech) in 2s/3s set in a high-class restaurant.
Remember to sustain the exaggerated characterisation of commedia.
Status
We started off working with the Year 8 definition of status which is: “how important a character is.” Think about last lesson’s work on the status of Commedia dell’arte characters, and any other times we have explored status.
Do you now have a more advanced understanding of what status is? E.g.
– What emotions give a character a high status?– What emotions give a character a low status?– Can a character’s intelligence affect their status? – What about Money and status? Job and status?– Is the status of a character fixed, or can it change? Can
is you back this up with an example?
Characterisation
Reflect back on our practical work on instant characters, characters from scripts and characters from Commedia dell’arte.
1.What skills do you feel you have you gained from this practical work?
1.You have known for a while that we are performing pantomimes to primaries in December. How will your work on Commedia dell’arte help you with the new panto project?
Primary Panto Groups
Group OneAladdin
Group 2Peter Pan
Group 3Jack & the Beanstalk
Ellie Gill Bali Hemmings Aaron Nash
Sadie King Rebecca Pegg Oliver Thomas
Solomon Mills Jodie MacPherson Millie Keates
Alexandra Salt Phoebe Bowers Sheona Killeen
Rosie Taylor Emily Derbyshire Caitlin Owen
Clarke Lear Katie Hollamby Bobbi Moore
Summer McCarthy-Ball
What skills are needed for a successful pantomime?
• Does this short video contain any useful advice from the professionals on producing and performing in panto?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owrusD-E-Hg
Random Acts Primary Panto Planning
1. Debate which story you want to base your 10 minute pantomime on. One person in the group should take minutes of the discussion. Remember your target audience is primary school children, and you only have 10-15 minutes of performance time per group.
2. Think about the main characters in the story and how you might CAST those characters from your group. (Remember you can multi-role).
3. Does anyone in your group have specialist skills you could use? Musical instruments? Singing? Dance? Clowning? Mime?
Random Acts Primary Panto Planning
To make your group’s pantomime the best it can be, you need to do some research and forward planning over half term.4.Debate and share out the research and planning tasks on the homework sheet, under the headings: •performance style•costume design•prop design •marketing
Random Acts Primary Panto Project
Aims What’s next?
Mon 4th Nov
1. Compare versions of the story, and decide on the PLOT of your panto. Which events are you keeping in, which ones are you cutting?
2. CAST it. Which characters do you need? Do you need some actors to multi-role?
3. IMPROVISE the whole story.
Finish improvising the story.
Thurs 7th Nov
1.Finish improvising the WHOLE story!2.Plan your own hwk – what can you usefully
do independently that will push your panto project forward: costume design/sourcing, poster/flyer design, prop making…
Complete your hwk task: costume design, sourcing/making, poster and flyer design, prop making…some tasks will naturally take longer than others…
Random Acts Primary Panto Project
Aims What’s next?
Mon 11th Nov
1. Inject PANTO acting style into your piece: bold exaggerated characterisation, audience participation, visual comedy, simple clear storytelling, lots of direct address.
2. Complete a run of the story and time it.3. Update your group with how far you’ve
got with your hwk task: costume design, sourcing/making, poster and flyer design, prop making…when will things be ready?
Time a run of the piece. Needs to be between 12-15 mins. Each group has 20 mins, but this time-slot includes “get-in” and “get-out.”
Fri15th Nov
1. Time a run of your piece.2. Remember to keep the panto acting
style!3. Discuss what needs cutting/extending4. Action this if necessary.5. Vote on the audience participation song.
Make sure your publicity materials ready for distribution to primary schools next week (posters/flyers).