The Commedia dell'Arte of Flaminio Scala by Richard Andrews

Commedia dell'arte, conversely, was performed by professional actors (comici) who perfected a specific role or mask. This was to distinguish the form from commedia erudita or learned comedy that was written by academics and performed by amateurs. In fact, the term arte was coined much later, for in the early period the term used in contemporary accounts is commedia all'improviso. Here, arte does not refer to 'art' as we currently consider the word, but rather to that which is made by artigiani (artisans).

The closest translation of the name is ' comedy of craft' it is shortened from commedia dell'arte all'improvviso, or 'comedy of the craft of improvisation'. A comprehensive index is organized for quick reference and lists which characters and masks appear in which scenarios, as well as frequent scenic components that recur, such as types of speeches, relationships, and emotional situations.Commedia dell'arte (Italian pronunciation: ) is a form of theatre characterized by masked 'types' which began in Italy in the 16 th century and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Andrews points out similarities between the scenarios, borrowings from earlier Italian scripted comedies, analogies with other early modern drama including Shakespeare, and the re-use of these components by later dramatists such as Molière and Goldoni.Īn extensive introduction sets the parameters for the commentaries, giving a description of commedia dell'arte as a phenomenon, explaining the categories of masked characters, and describing the nature and structure of the genre.

Taking into consideration previous translations of the work, Richard Andrews's English translation and lengthy analytic commentary of the scenarios provide an overview of the commedia dell'arte style, describing how actors fleshed out scenes by inserting existing material from their repertoire into a plot framework and demonstrating a constant interchange of plot, characterization, and scene structure that moved between scripted and improvised comedy. Thirty of Scala's 50 scenarios are included, complete with a detailed scene-by-scene analysis that demonstrates the methodology of Italian improvised theatre in the early modern period for the purposes of study as well as re-creation. The Commedia dell'Arte of Flaminio Scala presents a translation and commentary of selected scenarios composed or collected by the actor-manager Flaminio Scala that were first published in 1611.

The Commedia dell'Arte of Flaminio Scala by Richard Andrews