Commedia Dell ‘arte Theatre Workshop – Concept Statement

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Pantalone, therefore, is the representative of Venice as he is a Venetian merchant. In the activity where students act the characters in Commedia Dell ‘Arte, his character should be expressed across student’s countenance and demeanour; a shrewd, cunning, vulgar, and proud character, such as that of what Venice was deemed to be at the time of the first and second century.

The audience was able to pick up from each persons dress which character type they were representing.

Stock characters are familiar to the audniece and reocnigsbale thorugh their customer, exaggeration and caricatured

Set Design and Technical Aspects

The second workshop has a focus on the conventions of set design and technical aspects of Commedia Dell ‘Arte.

There are no elaborate set designs in Commedia Dell ‘Arte, instead, they are minimalistic with rarely anything more than a market or street scene predominantly held in the outdoors. Alternately, there was a major focus on props and the acting itself. Commedia Dell ‘Arte had a profound form of improvisational through its technical aspects, the combined use of slapstick, practiced lazzi and an overarching physical vibrant atmosphere, presented humour. The first exercise will focus on the use of lazzi; memorised set pieces that often have little to do with the plot, but have been practiced fastidiously and ensure the entertainment and pace of the work. To prepare for Commedia it is important to get students to start thinking about jokes and other various items of entertainment such as tongue twisters that they can perform. Students will form group to work on this set lazzi. After this, a hand out of a list of nonsense words will be given to students and they will be asked to create a short improvised scene in these groups that is based around and features that word. The scene could tell the story of the origin or meaning of the word. This is a form of Slapstick theatre, which is believed to have originated from Commedia Dell ‘Arte. Slapstick is a form of low comedy that asks for little, if any intellectual skill but has a focus on exaggeration, ridiculous and physical theatre. Masks force actors to project their characters’ emotions through their body. Physical theatre involves dance, music, acrobats, obscene gestures and anything alike to form slapstick to be incorporated in their acts.

The workshop will conclude as students are finally given a topic moments before they perform to the class and they must endeavour to bring humour to the crowd though the lazzi practiced, slapstick humour and physical obscenities.

Conclusion

The following concept statement, designed to cater for the learning needs of students participating, conceptualises the theatrical experience of the art through detailed description of the program and the knowledge to be attained

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