COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
LESSON PLAN FOR 6TH GRADE
1. Give teachers the vocabulary lessons at least 2 weeks prior to class visit.
2. Written for two teaching artists/ actors/ narrators. Adapt as needed.
3. Must have a real “slapstick” to use and show. Commedia Masks would
be helpful.
Script:
Both:
Welcome Welcome Welcome!!!
Primo (Suz):
We are players from the Cresta Uccello Troupe.
That’s Italian for Ridge Bird.
Second (Ashley):
The Cresta Uccello troupe is a Commedia Dell’arte
group from Italy. We have traveled through time
to be with you here today. We are from the 16th
century, more precisely, about 1545. At least that’s
the first “written” record of our troupe.
change to fit the
mascots of your
school.)
(other character writes
“troupe” on the board or)
have flash cards made)
(Actually, the first record
of a professional acting
troupe was at Padua.)
Primo (Suz):
Our time was called the Renaissance—I’m sure
you’ve heard and read about it. It was a great time
full of new ideas and inventions. We were lucky
because the printing press had been invented.
We could throw our ignorance aside and learn
about all kinds of things.
(Ashley: Show
Renaissance )
Second (Ashley):
--Especially plays by Shakespeare and Moliere.
(Suz: show Moliere)
They must have seen a commedia touring troupe like
ours because Shakespeare wrote us into his play, “Hamlet,”
and Moliere copied our style for some of his French
plays. Next spring you can see one of Moliere’s plays,
The Miser, presented by your local troupe, The Playmakers.
Primo (Suz):
Commedia Dell’arte means, literally, “artistic
(Ashley: Commedia
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comedy” “Dell”- “of the”---- ‘arte”- skilled artists
and craftsman who acted with truth & sincerity
Dell’Arte)
Second (Ashley):
In other words—“professional actors”
Primo (Suz):
Our kind of comedy is now called “slapstick”
because some of our characters used a real
wooden paddle. It doesn’t hurt but makes a
loud noise and we pretend it hurts.
Second (Ashley):
But our kind of comedy really goes back many
years…even before our time in the 16th century
—to Greek theatre in the 4th century BCE,
(before the common era-- you may call it BC) …
where at least one very famous Greek poet,
Aristophanes, wrote comedies with lots of satire and
irony. He pariodied, or “mocked” famous people.
Primo (Suz):
Hey, you zanni…it goes back before then – to 800
BCE when a man named Susarion formed a band
of comedians in Icaria (look it up on a map) and
trooped around Greece with his chariot-load of
vagabonds who performed comedies with music.
(slapstick: slap!)
(Suz: Aristophanes,
satire, irony,
parody)
(Ashley “Zanni”
“troop” vs. “troupe” Icaria, vagabonds
Second (Ashley):
Maybe that was the first “musical comedy?”
Primo (Suz):
And, it was in Icaria, a few hundred years later
that a man called Thespis stepped out of
the Greek Chorus and, some say, became the first
“actor.”
(Ashley: Thespis)
Second (Ashley):
Do you remember what your local thespian group,
The Playmakers, told you a couple of years ago about
the purpose for which mankind has used theatre?
to entertain and give pleasure to each other
to influence events
to educate their children
to glorify or give praise
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Primo (Suz):
Well, our kind of theatre has only one purpose: TO ENTERTAIN!
Most theatre of our time was “formal,” and “classic.”
Second (Ashley):
…Read….”cold” “boring.” And most of it takes place where we
common people don’t go…lavish theatres that cost a lot of
money.
Primo (Suz):
So we decided to do what the Greek vagabonds did…
except as we said earlier, we are “pros!” That means that
we support ourselves by performing.
Second (Ashley):
Yeah! and we have to love people and entertaining
them because they don’t pay us very much!
(use slapstick!)
Primo (Suz)
We perform in streets, in outdoor town squares, and
marketplaces, just as all early theatre has done…
Second (Ashley):
but..we don’t perform in “religious” areas
because, well…ah… we are more “profane” than
“sacred”
(Suz: profane…ity)
Primo (Suz):
We don’t perform “tragedy” like the early Greek poets did—
about their mythological gods and man challenging each other.
The only challenge we have is for ourselves--to make people laugh
at themselves through us.
Second (Ashley):
Therefore, the themes of our plays are based on our daily lives,
the kinds of people we know, our customs, our frailties, the
silly things we humans do all the time.
Primo (Suz):
That way…everybody can understand them.
Second (Ashley):
We like to think that our kind of comedy laid the foundation
for your farce…for your Simpsons! -- for your “sit-coms” …
Primo (Suz):
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…and even your pictures on that big screen, movies, especially
that one called “Pirates of the Caribbean!”
Second (Ashley):
The object of our humor may be someone
whose behavior we don’t like, or that we are mad at…
but we turn that anger into something absurd.
(Suz: Absurd)
Primo (Suz):
Sort of like your people who perform…what do you call it?
RAP!?
Second (Ashley):
We take credit for creating –on stage, so to speak—
(Suz: Improvisation)
a technique called Improvisation. This doesn’t mean
that we make it all up on stage…there are rules even in Improv.
Primo (Suz):
Yes, we observe people and their actions and behaviors
all the time; we see jealousy, greed, anger, desire, sloth,
misery, etc.
Second (Ashley):
…and then we make up bits and pieces of dialogue
or stage business from what we see….we test out
ways to “mimic” human behavior.
(Suz: Dialogue)
(Mimic/Mime)
Primo (Suz):
And we practice and rehearse all the time….that’ s part
of being a professional at anything…you have to work at
your skills and hone your talents.
Second (Ashley):
We work from a simple sketch of an idea for a play.
It’s called a “scenario.” It’s not a complete script,
more like an outline of scenes. It goes like this.
(Suz: Scenario)
EXERCISE WITH STUDENTS:
Primo (Suz):
(Get a couple of names of kids…two boys, one girl)
“X (boy) enlists Y (boy) to help get a date with Z (the girl),
who doesn’t know X exists. Y gives him a lot of bad
advice about his clothes and how he should act.”
Second (Ashley);
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( Get three more boys’ names plus two girls’ names)
“X has stolen some money from Y. When Y realized his
money is gone, he asked A & B (girls) to fetch Z for advice.
When Z arrives, he gives Y several medical diagnoses.
Primo (Suz):
Then we add the bits & pieces of “improv” to it as
we perform it. We may throw in techniques such as
“mime,” which we mentioned, music, “acrobatics,”
jokes and “physical comedy” such as falls, and….
(Ashley:Mime, acrobatics)
(one actor bends over and the other one
kicks him in the rear,or some other illustration
of physical comedy)
These bits are called “lazzi.”
(Lazzi)
(Maybe do “the fly” as another illustration One
actors reads a passage such as one from “Oranges
in which the doctor talks, the other seems to be trying
to catch a fly that’s bothering him, paying no attention
to the doctor When he catches it, he tears off a wing
and eats it…one wing at a time, like chicken. Then
eats the rest.)
Ashley reads as Dottore: “It is a foregone conclusion
that cranial disturbances are caused by mellifluous
coagulation of the yellow bile which causes inter-cerebellar
conflagration.”
(Suz: fly)
Second (Ashley):
You may have seen “lazzi” of the physical comedy type
in old “Three Stooges” movies”
(Or maybe something that Johnny Depp does in a
Pirates’ movie.)
Primo (Suz):
We also love mellow love scenes, but sometimes
our fellow actors create havoc in the middle of
them.
Second (Ashley):
Like the Greeks before us, we use masks for some of our
characters. But unlike the Greeks, the masks illustrate
a “type” of character, not a particular person.
The “masks” are recognized by the audience upon the
entrance of the character wearing it. It’s almost as if
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the character is “born” through the “mask.”
Primo (Suz):
In other words, our entertainments are made up of
“stock characters”--- types of people we all know:
Fathers, servants, military people, police, old men, fools,
politicians, cowards, fakes, greedy people, professional
types such as teachers and doctors, and of course, lovers.
The world must have romance, if only to make fun of !
(stock )
Second (Ashley):
And… unlike the actors in those great plays of
Shakespeare and Moliere, we allow women to perform.
We keep their roles “polite” however…we’ll tell you more
about that in a minute.
Primo (Suz):
Each character has a particular stance, walk, & posture
Second (Ashley):
It’s time to show them some!
Primo (Suz):
Okay…this week (day) you will see a play called “The Love
(Carol Gozzi)
for Three Oranges.” It is a very old play by an Italian
named Carlo Gozzi. It has been adapted by many different
people throughout the centuries for many different audiences,
some young, some adult.
Second (Ashley);
It was even made into an Opera, with music by the famous
composer, Prokofiev.
In our play, Gozzi combines traditional Commedia “stock characters” with
fairy tale characters, such as Kings, princes, princesses, witches, etc.
Let’s begin with the traditional commedia characters.
that you will see in the play. The most famous:
Arlecchino or Harlequin, a clever, but not very
smart servant. A mixture of ignorance, naivite,
wit, stupidity, and grace! Physically fast,
mentally slow.
(Arlecchino/
Harlequin
(While one person describes the character, the other
performs the walks, stances, postures)
Primo (Suz):
BART SIMPSON!
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Actors have interpreted this character as various
animals:
a Cat
a Fox
a monkey or a goat
(Second (Ashley) acts out
hold up mask)
(P. perform Pas De
Chats)
(P.perform extended
walks--develope)
(sideways walk, &
prance)
He is flexible and agile, his knees are bent over
turned out toes. He can do falls, acrobatics,
and turns.
He carries a slapstick at all times.
(slap!)
And he makes a lot of mistakes, gets scared easily.
He is, essentially, a jester
(jester)
His costume is made of colorful patches or triangles,
the patches probably remnants of richer costumes.
Second (Ashley):
In “The Love For Three Oranges” my name is: Truffaldino.
Another stock character is “Il Dottore.”
He represents the proud university professors
especially those who like to make normal people
feel stupid.
(Suz: Il Dottore)
He always dresses in black, is well groomed,
rich looking, and talks and talks, a river of
useless scientific words and terms that end up
saying nothing.
(Suz: mask)
(Perhaps another
passage from play)
Suz read: “A very serious case.
A state of hypochrondria that I judge to be incurable.”
His ancesters were those who hawked quack
medicines to attract customers, seen in old-time
westerns & melodramas,
He is often a bachelor, a widower, or a father.
He likes to have a lot of space around him.
He would love to lead an academic life, but,
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alas, that world won’t have him, because he’s
never cured anyone.
His stance & posture is stiff, proud…
He walks sporadically..like a small bird or a
roach caught in the light.
(Suz: show)
PRINCIPAL SKINNER!
Primo (Suz):
In the play this week I am simply “Il Dottore.”
Now to the character that illustrates all the greedy,
miserly people—Pantalone. He’s a merchant, rich,
holds a high social status, but also naïve. He likes
the beautiful girls, but will never get one because, not
only is he usually old & ugly, but he really thinks they
just want his money. If fact, he thinks everyone is
out to get his money, so he keeps it in a bag on his
belt and plays with it to make sure it hasn’t been stolen.
(Ashley: Pantalone)
He usually has lots of servants…in the upcoming play,
he calls on the servant, Truffaldino, to solve a problem.
He has an old man’s stoop, leaning forward, nose in
the air, often with one hand behind his back, under a
cape or cloak.
He walks with feet together, sometimes like a chicken
sometimes like a stork, often like a crab.
Second (Ashley):
THINK MR. BURNS ON THE SIMPSONS.
In the play, I walk in a quick shuffling manner.
___________
Prima: (Suz)
The last of the traditional characters you will see are
the Lovers:
The lovers never wear masks, in fact, the traditional
women’s characters in Commedia, whether a lover or
a servant, don’t wear masks.
The lovers are educated, refined, “polite”; they always
have the correct phrase to say.
Mostly they are in love with being in love..so they fall in
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love very quickly…or at least think they are in love.
Love at first sight happens frequently for Commedia
lovers.
They tend to float as if they aren’t connected to the earth
but if they walk they do so in a courtly manner, feet in
ballet positions.
In “Oranges”… their names are Prince Targalia and Princess
Ninetta.
Second (Ashley):
There are also two Zanni. They are servants
(our word, Zani)
like Truffaldino. One is sort of smart, the other kind of
dumb and clumsy…yet acrobatic.
Maybe HOMER SIMPSON TYPES.
In the play you will
see, their primary role is to change the location of the action
or interrupt the action. Not the set, because there isn’t much
of one. Remember Commedia was performed in the streets
and town squares. There are a couple of set pieces..a chair
and a bench. But the Zanni have signs to let us know where
the actors are…In the throne room, the forest, the desert, etc.
The other characters in ”Oranges” are non-commedia ones:
King Silvio, Princess Clarissa, Princess Ninetta, the witch Creonta
and her grotesque groupies. And, there is another one that might
need a bit of explaining. Fata Morgana!
Primo (Suz):
A fata morgana is a geological term for a mirage…as in the desert.
But it is also the Italian name for Morgan Le Fey, the sorceress of medieval
legends, the supposed sister of King Arthur. In Gozzi’s play, she becomes
a combination…a floating valley girl, who can cast spells,
most of which don’t work. She is a bumbling witch who tends
to trip over her own feet., unlike the wicked Creonta.
Elements of Commedia have been passed down in the forms of circus clowns, British music
halls and their Christmas pantomimes, American Vaudeville, Charlie Chaplin movies,
Punch & Judy Shows, and even ballet.
There are paintings by many famous painters: one was Picasso.
The play you will see is performed by 7th & 8th grade students in speech & drama.
We will be back on Friday to get your opinions of the play, the way it was performed,
and what you liked or didn’t like about it. Remember, it takes much practice to be able to
perform commedia comedy. The students have only had a few hours. But, we hope you will
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get a glimpse of the elements of commedia, and also be able to compare the techniques used
in the play to TV & movie comedies that you have seen.
You may wonder why you’re being presented with a children’s fairy tale, but
we ask you to watch for the Commedia characters, especially, because Commedia is
more about characters than plots…and actions that are familiar to people all over the globe.
Your main objective is to pick out the Commedia characters, the lazzi, and other silliness
from within the story. We hope, after you see it, you will want to do more research on
Commedia Dell’Arte.
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