The actor and the Mask in the Commedia dell'Arte

International Workshop directed by Fabio Mangolini
Finale Emilia (Mo) Italy 5-25 July 2010

A FEW WORDS ON THE COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

"Improvisation has been the single most important unifying element throughout the history and the multitude of manifestation of the Commedia dell'Arte.
It is the real thread that runs through this type of theatre, even with Italian comedians using radically different techniques, especially after they emigrated.
Improvisation as a unifying force in theatre from the mid XVIth century to the late XVIIIth century, demonstrates a great continuity that establishes it as a unique type of theatre, with his own style and genre.
The techniques of improvisation, that Italian master so well, has been developed from one generation to the next and is the key to the Commedia dell'Arte, like a manufacturing secret."

F. Taviani, M. Schino, Il segreto ella Commedia dell'Arte, Firenze 1986.

If improvisation was the key to the development of a new form of theatre in the XVIth century, why is it that Italian comedians started playing "all'improvviso"?
Can the play of the comedians be considered improvised if it is to some extent studied in advance and makes use of "Centoni"?
These questions bear directly on the fundamentals of the history of theatre. The Commedia dell'Arte was born out of a vulgarisation of erudite theatre, which typically only served as a pretext for showing-off the art of an actor on his inspired days. Commedia dell'Arte comedians managed to elevate vulgarised theatre, up to then considered a low level activity, and to present it to the ruling class, i.e. the Court. The comedians even got successfully involved in battles against the powerful catholic moralism of those days, the Counter-Reformation.
It is thus that the mask, already used at the medieval carnivals, becomes an instrument, a tool, as that used by an artisan.
The Commedia dell'Arte converted the actor into an artisan of the theatre, who transformed everyday things into tools of stage-craft.
The "Centoni" where like toolboxes, carefully guarded by each comedian, containing gags, scenes and "lazzi" that they could use when the moment came to improvise and they transmitted from one generation to the next.

If an artistic expression arises out of adapting reality, a search for a public and the need to cultivate its tastes, then the Commedia dell'Arte serves this purpose very admirably with its personification of universal types, its parody and direct language.

The world of the Commedia dell'Arte can always be reduced to basic situations: conflicts between generations, the struggle for power, sentimental intrigues and differences in social levels. The old rich miser today becomes a narrow-minded bourgeois (the modern Pantalone) and Arlequin, lost amongst the pots and pans in a XVIth century kitchen, can today get himself hopelessly entangled in electronic gadgetry.
To what extent is there a "Commedia dell'Arte - type" in each one of us, and in the people around us?

PURPOSE OF A COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE WORKSHOP
An educational perspective

The Commedia dell'Arte has always occupied a fundamental place in the school curricula of our century. This has been the case not only in the avant-garde Russian schools of Meyerold' or Vachtangov, but also in Jacques Copeau's Atelier des Vieux Colombiers in Paris or, recently, in the school of Jacques Lecoq. In fact, the most important theatrical masters of the century have been consecrating a part of their work to the Commedia dell'Arte.

The study of masks and of their use in the Commedia dell'Arte leads to a vision of theatre where the actor sees himself as an artisan creating his own art. In the use of masks, the comedian finds an enjoyment that may have been missing in the prisons of the "psychological" and "realistic" tendencies of the past half century. Within the context of the code given by the mask, the actor must reveal the profound truth of the character he represents, so that this truth becomes universal, exteriorized but never exterior. This leads directly to the traditions of the oriental masked theatre.

The mask and the Commedia dell'Arte need actors with a solid background and great qualities: this is a total theatre involving interpretation, mask work, singing, acrobatic, mime and fencing.

Finally, it should be noted that the mask serves two functions: the first one is theatrical, in the service of the performance; the second is educational, to develop the skills of the actor, even when the mask is removed.