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Carnival of Venice.

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What makes a Pierrot?

Is Pierrot a name that can be applied to any clown? Or is it reserved only for the mask and character?

Piero in Japanese is any clown, and in fact mostly Harlequin types. The popular Japanese anime Smile! Pretty Cure featured an incarnation of the literary Pierrot as the ultimate antagonist of a kingdom of storybook characters, playing on his nature as someone kept away from the joys of success and fulfillment and using his presence in the world of European literary mythology to enhance themes in place, even as his subordinate Joker is as much a character trickster clown as any.

Pierrot in America... is tricky. It depends on who you ask.

Those closer to the British panto tradition tend to have a better grasp of the difference between Pierrot and Clown, because the Clown is a character in his own right and Pierrot is relegated to fin-de-siecle artbooks.

But even the English Clown is different than the American one.

In America, Clown is a role, but it's an occupation one holds rather than a character one plays. (Okay, that's how it is from an audience's standpoint. In the course of professional instruction and training, developing a sense of character can be crucial. But very few people watching can tell.)

Another really important detail is that American Clowning is much closer to the Italian tradition than the French. The focus is on comedy rather than drama, that is. The stories are less abstract and more simplified. Routines are collections of movements without overarching story themes.

Cirque du Soleil is, naturally, in the French style. It's about performance pieces instead of just comedy. It's about thought and art instead of entertainment. ....How very French, indeed.

Pierrot is a very loaded word for some of us. It summons up, well, Pierrot! It tells us we're in for certain kinds of aesthetics and stories and postures.

When we hear Clown, it has a completely different set of connotations.

This topic arises because the dress-up site Gaia Online has several items bearing the Pierrot name, and a couple of characters, and the relation to the term is debatable. Pierrot seems to be seen as a classy kind of clown, because clowns are somehow not-classy to people. The character Antique Pierrot is just an acrobat and juggler, with no expressed predisposition for comedy. Buttons the Pierrot at least works in a circus, where she tends towards silence or speaking French and has the cap, baggy white sleeves, and whiteface. We know nothing of her performances except that she is accompanied by a small pet bird. Her traditional look is lost in all subsequent appearances, but her surface identity as a clown is not.

What is the line?

Commedia and Cirque are not the same, much as we may harp on how they developed and influenced each other.

Should they have separate linguistic identities for their performers too? Should we be more widely aware of what they represent?

How much of Pierrot is physical? How much of an acrobat is comedy? How much of a clown is acrobatics? Who populates a circus?

Food for thought.

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Guillaume Seignac,  Pierrot’s Embrace, late 19th century

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Armand Henrion

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The Fool From Bergamo.

This page is a shrine of Arlecchino.

For centuries, the black-masked acrobat has charmed audiences and exasperated fellow characters in a historic form of theatre called commedia dell’arte. His ragtag suit of coloured triangles and diamonds has been worn by stars of the stage and by great writers, his impish and cavalier nature have been adapted from Italy to Russia to America, and his legacy has popped up its dark eyes and roguish grin in some of the most unlikely of places.

Arlecchino is a folk hero of Italy, traditionally rising from humble origins as a poor porter in Bergamo, and finding work under such people as the braggart Capitano, the pedantic Dottore, and the miserly Pantalone. He is a curious mix of lazy and hardworking- he is ever eager to please, but sees no problem in shirking his duties whensoever he desires. Arlecchino is muscular, atheletic acrobat, performing great feats of physical comedy and engaging others similarly. He has very loose limbs, wide legs and fingers, and a very clownish and energetic manner of expression.

Arlecchino loves all those things that make life fun, and very little of those that do not. He is an avid supporter of the “wine, women, and song” movement- accompanied, of course, by good food and lots of it! He sings, dances, plays guitar, drinks, steals food, is an avid and shameless flirt, always looks to earn a quick coin, and is easily distracted by all of these things.

As a Mask of the commedia, Arlecchino is a stock character who has been worn and played by various skilled performers from across the ages, including once upon a time the Martinelli brothers and Evaristo Gherardi. His motives, station, role, and personality have undergone some extensive changes, and experienced many regional variants; but, as a core stock character, some things are likely to remain the same.

(The rest we call Harlequin and move to Paris or Brighton.)

"Here, you are welcome! Here, the wearied servants of the old men on the piazza relax and unwind. Of course, no relaxation is complete for the mischievous valets without a little fun, a lot of food, and some joyous company!

Arlecchino has been very hard-working lately (not really). He has done much, and achieved little, and is as always very proud of himself. He is no longer permitted to spend his free time near the kitchen, due to his unfortunate habit of sneaking in and happening to devour as much as possible before he’s kicked out- and so he is here, sitting in the sun at the fountain, watching the clouds go by and following passersby (usually while mimicking them).

Perhaps, after he ends up knocked into the fountain one too many times, he’ll find somewhere else to make himself a bother- but the great fool of Bergamo knows no bounds, and will not rest while there is still life yet to be enjoyed!

If you cook? He loves you. If you feed him? He loves you. If you give him work? He loves you. If you are a lovely young woman? Ah, he loves you most of all!

Surely you can’t pass by without greeting him- and if you do, he knows you’ll be back."

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~ Commedia Dell'Smartass ~

A contemporary play that uses masks common to traditional Commedia, mixed with a setting of modern-day archetypes and intrigues: American High School.

The play features Columbina as the Girl Scout, il Capitano as the Fencer, Pierrot as the Clown, and a character named Henry representing a comedic 'straight man' who receives the drama and is the butt of jokes (as does the clown) but does not represent a stock character.

Commedia dell Smartass is a drama, make no mistake. There's fighting, scheming, drinking, dancing, and quite a lot of seducing.

It is impossible to provide an adequate summary of the plot without also providing spoilers for it, but the gist is as follows: Henry is friends with the Fencer, who goads him into asking out the Girl Scout. The Girl Scout is a capable, enthusiastic go-getter, who is sometimes friends with the Clown. The first three students are all on the verge of moving on to university; no one knows about the Clown, who remains as much a mystery as the number of props that are pulled out of his backpack. Henry and the Girl Scout hit it off. Then the plot swings into high gear.

(Requested post. This author in fact played the Clown in this production over a year ago, hence my fascination with Pierrot despite his not being a member of classical troupe of masks. This author also wishes to note that the Clown of this play is very much a Pierrot, rather than the traditional English Comedy Clown archetype. You will find him sulking in Paris much more readily than chasing Harlequin in Brighton, I assure you.)

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This dissertation is my bible.

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More on Arlecchino

OOH!

I feel like a total asshole for this, but I forgot something when I was talking about Commedia the other night!

A really important example of Arlecchino can be found in Mozart’s opera, specifically The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro- and, of course, the companion operas in the Figaro trilogy!

My mother just reminded me of it, and I feel like a dipshit because I should have remembered it on my own. >.<

I guess I also should have mentioned Carlo Goldoni’s popular play The Servant Of Two Masters, since literally each of them is from Commedia. Arlecchino is often used as a subtitle of the play, and is represented by the wily troublemaker Truffaldino (who is an established variant of the mask in his own right but let’s not get too complicated).

And another Shakespeare play with a good example of an Arlecchino-esque figure to add to my mentions is in The Tempest, the jester who hangs out with Stefano and whose name begins with a ‘T’ and who I feel like a numbskull for forgetting considering I just read for him a month ago EDIT: MOTHERFUCKING Trinculo that’s his name I remembered it literally as soon as I posted and reread this how. Also, to an extent, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, although he came around before France started reinventing Arlequin’s social status so maybe he’s not a good example after all.

(Painting by Giovanni Domenico Ferretti, 17th cent.?)

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*7* Nothing would make me happier!!

What do you want to know?

Commedia dell’Arte (translates roughly to ‘theatre of the professional artist’ because of the talented career performers who populated it) is basically a genre of theater, first recorded and identified in 1567CE but most likely begun far earlier than that. It spread from powerful roots in companies and troupes from Renaissance Italy to unique niches in both England and France, and birthed images still known from Japan to Russia to America. It’s structured improvisation, meaning that there are no scripts and the actors make up their lines (which can be wicked difficult thanks), with a special emphasis on comedy. This comedy ranges from broad slapstick (a term which was originally coined by Arlecchino’s ever-present stick used to abuse his fellows, and extends to silly physical gags like running into doors) to bawdy songs, lascivious innuendo, bad pickup lines, disguises and trickery, clever repartee dialogue, exaggeration and running jokes, elaborate somersaults and acrobatics, and making utter fools of one another. The comedy ‘bits’, where actors fill in blank spots in the structure for humour, are referred to as lazzi. Commedia is also usually defined by its most unique quality: the stock characters, referred to as the Masks because each character is represented by a certain type of mask or face. I could write an entire post on the nature of the stock Masks alone, and probably will some day. There are maybe seven or so well-known characters, and dozens of littler-known regional variants. The most famous characters are generally known as Pantalone, the miserly merchant; il Dottore, the know-nothing know-it-all ‘professional’; the innamorata and innamorato, two youths who are obsessed with romantic, chivalric love and pine desperately for one another; Columbina, the high-headed, devilish and clever serving maid; il Capitano, the blustering braggart; and Arlecchino. Ahh, Arlecchino. Acrobatic, energetic, excited, happy-go-lucky fool and hero and servant alike, Arlecchino is something of an Italian folk hero. I could talk forever and a day about him alone, because wow he’s so important I just cannot even.

…So! What are the top things we associate with Commedia dell’Arte?

is performed all’improviso,

includes copious lazzi,

relies on stock characters and personalities that the audience can identify by masks and other visual cues on sight.

I’ve got loads of material on various aspects of the Commedia dell’arte, and I eagerly welcome any questions on any aspect of the topic- from the masks, to the entire history, to influences on various playwrights or philosophies and culture, or any other key traits! I’ve also devoted a lot of blog space to information on Commedia dell’arte, so do check the tags I used for this post and explore around a bit. I have a lot of online sources and book recommendations as well as my reblogs, too

-Am I overwhelming here, or informative? I find this whole thing relevant to my path in life, and to my future career in theater, so I can spend a lot of time on it,… but I take it very seriously, so I don’t know how much the average hobbyist would care about every aspect.

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Othello and Commedia dell'arte

I think I wrote this as a Sophomore year exercise at Sarah Lawrence.

The play Othello is a comedy gone wrong. 

We begin at the end; that is to say, the play opens with a wedding rather than ends with one, as in a comedy. The characters are mostly taken straight from Commedia dell’arte; stock Commedia characters people the play. By this token we can point a finger directly at Iago as responsible for the tragedy. Iago at first appears to be a staple Commedia figure, the scheming Zanni character, but upon closer inspection it becomes apparent that he is the one character who doesn’t belong in the world of Othello. Even in my research, Iago proves slippery and difficult to define. He is best recognized as the Vice character from medieval mystery plays. These plays insinuate themselves into Elizabethan drama, with the Mankind character replaced by a singular figure, usually a king (in our case Othello), “his inner conflict being externalised into counsellors offering him conflicting advice, or into a single external figure opposing his natural inclinations, often a Vice-like character [Iago] (Harris 166).” However, in order to contrast the comedic world of Othello and Desdmona with the tragic world of Iago, we must begin with comparisons and analysis of the main characters in relation to Commedia.

Read More

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The Lovers - Innamorata and Innamorato

The Lovers bring into the Commedia dell’Arte those little touches of soap opera and feuilleton around which the action may easily be developed. Important in their role as much as with a flat personality (they’re desperately in love …) the Innamorati helped the public to identify and sink deep in the stories. Very often they are son and daughter of the two old folks, Pantaloon the greedy and the Doctor.

The Lovers are young, wear no mask, and have a very strict but essential role in the play, and are a constant of the Commedia dell’Arte, and the action which gets the appreciation of the public any time Harlequin gets on stage.

Elegantly dressed as the last vogue required (usually of the same color, just in case another couple of Lovers was in the play too, in which case we talk about First Lovers and Second Lovers) they reaffirm how much they were made for each other, the Innamorati create those situations of contrasted love, envy, gossip in which to implement the more famous/entertaining masks: Harlequin, Pantaloon, Pulcinella.

P.S. The Innamorata was a role originally played by men in France and England, due to the “lewdness and adultery” associated with the women’s roles.

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Comedia dell’arte. A form of theater characterized by masked “types” which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios.

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Konstantin Andreevich Somov - Italian Comedy, 1914

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Commedia dell'Arte: Arlecchino

Origin of Name

No one knows where name comes from

Magical, enduring quality

Status

Servant to Pantalone, Il Capitano

Usually the second zanni

Costume

Harlequin

Jokester costume

Tight fitting long jacket and trousers

Black shoes

Adopts many disguises — cross-dresses

Mask

Has a wart

Props

A battachino = a bat — symbol of Arlecchino himself because he never puts it down

A belt

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Commedia dell'Arte: Pantalone "di Bisognosi"

Meaning

Means needy

Entirely based on money and ego

Mask

Pointed long nose

Like a bird

Big eyebrows

Character

Thinks highly of himself

Really rich

Thinks that he’s very smart

Usually becomes the butt of the joke

Always tries to go around and flirts with girls but he never gets any

Role

Usually a father of one of the lovers… against their relationship

Doesn’t treat others received

Perceived to be a pivotal part of commedia

Often placed at the beginning of the comedy

Forever Alone

Usually a widower or bachelor

Walk & Costume

Usually acts as if a bird

Neck movements

Small steps

Feet together

Often short

Wears dark colors