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Part 4: Study Guide Answers
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Can you name some of the stock characters in traditional Italian comedy? What European theatrical forms were impacted by the humorous presentation? Test your knowledge of commedia dell'arte with this quiz. All of the answers can be found here in the feature Commedia dell'Arte.
Commedia dell'Arte Study Guide
Questions | Answers
- Commedia dell'Arte, also known as "Italian comedy," was a humorous theatrical presentation performed by professional players who traveled in troupes throughout Italy in the 16th century.
- Performances took place on temporary stages, mostly on city streets, but occasionally even in court venues.
- False: There was no attempt made to change the performance's dialect from region to region. Even when a local company performed, much of the dialogue would not have been understood.
- Regardless of region, il Capitano would have spoken in Spanish.
- The impact of commedia dell’arte on European drama can be seen in French pantomime and the English harlequinade.
- The commedia dell’arte survived the early 18th century only by means of its vast influence on written dramatic forms.
- False: There were no elaborate sets in commedia. Staging, for example, was minimalistic—rarely anything more than one market or street scene—and the stages were frequently temporary outdoor structures.
- The character Arlecchino bore two sticks tied together, which made a great noise on impact. This gave birth to the word slapstick.
- The unique talent of commedia players was to improvise comedy around a pre-established scenario.
- Lazzi were special rehearsed routines that could be inserted into the plays at convenient points to heighten the comedy.
- The actors of the commedia represented fixed social types, or tipi fissi.
- Il Dottore was a caricature of learning—pompous and fraudulent.
- Pulcinella, as seen in the English Punch and Judy shows, was a dwarfish humpback with a crooked nose.
- Pantalone was a caricature of the Venetian merchant, rich and retired, mean and miserly, with a young wife or an adventurous daughter.
- There were many other minor characters in commedia dell’arte, some of which were associated with a particular region of Italy such as Peppe Nappa (Sicily), Gianduia (Turin), Stenterello (Tuscany), Rugantino (Rome), and Meneghino (Milan).
- Except for the inamorato, males would identify themselves with character-specific costumes and half masks.
- True: While the inamorato and the female characters wore neither masks nor costumes unique to that personage, certain information could still be derived from their clothing.
- Arlecchino would be immediately recognizable because of his black mask and patchwork costume.
- All the fixed character types, the figures of fun or satire, wore wore colored leather masks.
- The inclusion of music and dance into commedia performance required that all actors have these skills.
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