Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte (Italian, meaning "comedy of professional artists") was a form of improvisational theater which began in the 16th century and was popular until the 18th century, although it is still performed today. Traveling teams of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called Canovaccio.

Additional resources

• This page has pictures of masks and more character descriptions.
• The Innamorati by Midori Snyder is a novel with the commedia as its central conceit. ISBN 031286924X
• A certain version of The Love Of Three Oranges is subtitled "A Play For The Theatre That Takes The Commedia Dell'arte Of Carlo Gozzi And Updates It For The New Millennium" and may be of interest. Authors Carlo Gozzi and Hillary DePiano. ISBN 1411610326
• A great primary source for Commedia dell'Arte scenarios is Flamino Scala's Il Teatro delle Favole Rappresentative, translated into English by Henry F. Salerno as Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte. ISBN 0879101334
• The Commedia dell'Arte by Kenneth Richards and Laura Richards provides a good overview of Commedia dell'Arte. It also provides many original documents in translation including scenarios, lazzi and descriptions of characters, players and companies by contemporaries. ISBN 0631195904