Comparing Commedia

In performing our Commedia piece, a prominent issue throughout the entire performance was our lack of ability to remain in character. It was extremely difficult to not break character as certain awkward moments or certain humorous scenes came up. I portrayed the extremely old and aged man trying to vie for Alexandra's affection in addition to il capitano and the ten-year old courtier/prince. My characterization was that I had intense diarrhea and so I would portray myself with my back constantly hunched over. In addition to hunching my back, I would have erratic spurts in which I would my diarrhea would come and go. Once the audience began to laugh at my character, I could not help but to break character with a mere smile. I've come to realize the difficulty of maintaining the character because it is very easy for actors to slip and allow their own selves to be portrayed. It seemed that because we didn't have a script to practice off of and to make ourselves comfortable with, the lines that we improvised along the way oftentimes got funnier. And because we didn't quite expect what the other actors were going to say, these words caused us to break character as we would process what the other actor had said and realize the humor.

The other Commedia performance was more successful than our production because the actors in the other group had utilized more Commedia elements such as exaggerated lazzis and extreme stock characters. Their use of the stairs to act as a balcony was an innovative stage as it broke away from the typical staging of the classroom. The setting only added to their performance as it gave the production levels and tiers rather than remaining one-leveled or one-dimensional. This particular piece also used the idea of mistaken identities to its advantage through the use of the twins: Jackie and Natalie. It was evident that this devising group had used everything to their advantage to enhance their performance. The use of the slapstick, a prominent Commedia element added to the humor. Trish and Jackie's relationship was extremely humorous with the use of accents and physicality. Overall, the other group had put forth a more successful performance because they had utilized and emphasized Commedia elements as well as using other elements to their advantage such as the idea of mistaken identities, props, and staging.

Commedia: A Work in Progress

After we created our Commedia scenario, we started to rehearse our piece. Because Commedia is unique in that it's structured theatre without scripts, we needed to at least have our blocking relatively formulated so that we would be able to perform a cohesive piece. As real Commedia troupes typically prepare stock speeches as a back up when actors are at a loss of words, we mimicked this idea by having each actor remember certain elements that he/she had to incorporate in his/her lines. Since we all knew the general outline of the plot, we were required to improvise our lines and make sure that it was humorous. As we rehearsed, our piece appeared to be relatively funny and at times awkward when we were at a loss for words. We decided to create various lazzis: Fabian (Eric) forgetting Alexandra's name, having the ten-year-old courtier imitate the old/aged courtier, and having Fabian listen in on Alexandra's conversations with the various courtiers until he is caught in the end. In rehearsal, we attempted to incorporate Italian elements into our performances with Italian emphases on certain words and utilizing different types of Italian foods (i.e. lasagna, fettuccine) as substitutions for what Fabian had believed his daughter's name to be.

Our Take on Commedia

After we learned about the different elements that compose Commedia theatre, we were assigned to create our own Commedia performance. Our class was broken up into three different groups and my group consisted of: Kavita, Shivani, Eric, Iris, Kaitlyn, and myself. We were given a list of about five possible situations that we would expand on. We collectively decided on the scenario regarding Alexandra wanting to marry Fabian but her father, pantalone, disapproves of this marriage. The stock characters that we used were pantalone, il capitano, and the inamorata. We casted Kavita and Shivani as the inamorata lovers, Eric as pantalone, Iris as il capitano, and Kaitlyn and myself as males trying to court Alexandra.

To expand on the scenario given to us, we decided to have Alexandra first introduce Fabian to her father. In the process of doing so, Pantalone realizes that Fabian makes one less chicken than their family and dislikes his name so he therefore refuses this relationship. Hoping that Alexandra will find a more suitable man, Pantalone organizes a group of courtiers for Alexandra. In this group is il capitano, an elderly man, and a ten-year-old prince. When Fabian realizes that it is fruitless trying to win over Pantalone as himself, he decides to dress himself as Labian and enter this group of courtiers. When Alexandra realizes this ploy, she immediately chooses Labian as her lover and they run off together before Pantalone discovers Labian's "true identity."

Commedia Characters

Commedia dell'arte is composed of 8 stock characters: pantalone, isabella, il dottore, il capitano, colombina, brighella, arlechinno, and pulcinella. Stock characters refer to typical character types that the audience can easily distinguish such as star-crossed lovers, the hero, or the villain.

1. Pantalone is the money-hungry character who collects gold coins and collects wives as his trophies. He is referred to as "the magnificent lion". He is portrayed as the rich old miser and the master who treats his servants harshly. When he courts young women he thinks of them as his trophies.
2. Isabella is the high status, melodramatic, inamorata lover. She is considered flirtatious, vain/self-absorbed, and fashionable. She is typically resourceful and gets her own way.
3. Il dottore is the doctor who specializes in surgery although he is a quack who makes his patients fall asleep. He is a high status character and a master. As a doctor, he has unusual solutions and medical treatments and treats women very piggishly in the same manner as when he talks about food.
4. Il capitano is a man who brags about being a military expert and being an expert on women. He is a master and thinks of himself as a "lovers man" or a "ladies man."
5. Colombina works for il dottore and is referred to as his servant. She thinks that she is unemployable and is naive, innocent, and whimsical.
6. Brighella loves gambling and he loves women. Because he is the head servant to the master he teaches the other servants how to serve and steal from their masters.
7. Arlechinno works for pantalone and typically carries the slapstick. He is first seen as being innocent but he can switch to being the trickster. He is the servant who is in love with Isabella but knows that they can never marry because of their class differences.
8. Pulcinella holds many jobs but primarily works for pantalone and il dottore. He is a servant that always gets in trouble because of his gossip. His weakness is wine, women, and food.

Commedia Masks

(Above: A mask for il capitano.)

To further our knowledge of Commedia dell'arte, our teacher had us watch a video regarding the various elements that compose Commedia theatre. I will focus more on the use of masks in this particular entry. We learned that Commedia utilized exaggerated and grotesque masks where the process to use the masks required technique and imagination on the actor's part. The usage of Commedia masks followed a similar process as in any other type of theatre. The mask ritual consists of:

1. the actor observing the mask to study the character's attitudes and wants
2. the actor mirroring the mask in terms of facial expressions
3. the actor understanding the mask's objectives (If an actor is portraying pantalone, he needs to embody this money-hungry character.)
4. the actor needing to respect the mask by not fidgeting while he is in the mask

The flow-mask ritual requires the actor to have clear objectives in his voice and his gestures. When the actor is finished with the production, he goes out of the mask by taking off the mask so that he can resume being himself.

Creating Characters

As we came back from winter break, we started intense rehearsals for the senior IB projects. As Kermeka, our director, worked with each actor individually, she had us work on character development as we waited for our turn. To do so, she told us that the purpose of the production was not to imitate and completely embody the animals so that we would be transformed into animals ourselves but to embody the animal characteristics and portray these qualities into our character. In order to do so, we were told to think about the animals that we represented and analyze their movements and attitudes.

For example, Iris was Kathy who represented a cat. We decided that cats usually have a pompous, pretentious air about them so that they think of themselves as being above everyone else. In terms of attitude, Kathy was supposed to be a self-absorbed character who thought of herself as being superior. Because of a cat's body size, it slinks around lazily rather than running or walking actively. As a result, Iris glided across in order to mimic a cat's fluid movements. When it was my turn to portray Danielle, a donkey, it was harder to create a distinct voice, movement, or persona to embody a donkey's characteristics. I was told to go home and watch how donkeys move and react on youtube.com. In observing the donkeys, I realized that their one distinct characteristic that set them apart from other animals was their braying voice. Because Kermeka had said that the purpose was not to be a complete imitation of the animals, I decided to vary my voice by speaking with a normal tone that suddenly went to an extreme high. With this, we were able to further develop our characters so that the audience would have a better grasp of which animal we represented.

Commedia dell'Arte

In researching the various aspects of commedia dell'Arte, I was able to understand the components that create a good commedia piece. Commedia originated in the mid-16th century in Italy and continued through the 17th century in France. Commedia plays satirized local scandals or current events. Commedia consists of stock characters, improvisation, and several key props. Stock characters were the typical lovers, servants, masters, innamoratas (lovers) and old men. They used traditional names, standard costumes, and specific masks distinguishing their specific characters. Each character had a specific speech and reaction. Since each actor consistently portrayed the same character, the only changes would be the character's circumstances and the character's different relationships. The commedia play would revolve around the lovers' attempts to get married and the complications and misunderstandings that entail the relationship that they pursue throughout the play. Although commedia utilized improvisation, all the actors prepared stock speeches to ensure that they would not freeze on stage. Stock speeches were specific to each stock character and consisted of a general outline of what they would say. The slapstick was a key prop in commedia. It's used to create a loud, audible sound of slapping that consists of two pieces of wood hinged together to imitate a slapping sound when it hits the actor.

Commedia performers were sometimes referred to as mountebanks because they performed on outdoor, temporary stages. They would rely on various props to create the scenery. Commedia actors were the equivalent of modern celebrities. The key to their success was travelling to different performance venues in order to spread their fame. Each character represented a specific Italian town or district. In order to differentiate the characters, actors would use the specific dialect of the region that they represented. Each character was given one costume and one mask. In addition to improvisation, music and dance were central to commedia dell'arte so the young lover actors (innamorata) were expected to be able to sing and dance.

Testing Theories With Sakuntala

Peter Brook was a drama theorist who emphasized two aspects of theatre. He focused on posing/position and on eliminating the barrier between actor and audience. Peter Brook thought that a performer's position affected the way he way he spoke which would help him to better embody the character. We proposed that we could apply this theory especially with the sage's character. Because the sage casted the spell onto Sakuntala so that her husband wouldn't remember her, he is seen as the evil character. When we imagined a sage we thought of a male witch-like character. So we would have him stand in a hunched over position to resemble how a witch or an old man would stand. Since Peter Brook thought that positions would affect speech, having the sage's character stand in this manner would allow him to speak with a tone of someone who does evil. Another theory of Brook was that he wanted to eliminate the barrier between the audience. We proposed seating the audience in the actual stage setting. The performance would be staged in a forest setting and the audience would sit scattered in the setting. By doing this, the audience would feel as if they're part of the performance rather than being the audience, only watching the performance from an outsider's perspective.

Another group proposed having audience participation so that the audience could better understand the play's plot. This would be very similar to the dinner theatre production of You Have the Right to Remain Dead where the actors stop the production at certain points to help recap the audience of what has just passed. Because The Recognition of Sakuntala is written in such a poetic manner, it's difficult for most audience members to understand especially for students. This group suggested bringing audience members on stage to reenact the events so that everyone can understand the basic plot of the story and the details. Because the audience is typically reluctant to participate, if this is actually successful it would be an effective way to help the audience understand the plot.

Run-Through

We rehearsed for the first time today without our scripts. It was a completely different experience not having my lines to depend on. It was different having to be able to recite my lines at the correct time and portray these lines with the intended emotions whether it may be anger, excitement, or irritation. Because I was not reading off from my script, the dialogue seemed to flow more naturally as if it were a real conversation. In a sense, the words weren't as mechanical when I didn't have the script in front of me. Now that we were all more comfortable with our lines after having two weeks to familiarize ourselves with them, we were finally able to have what I thought to be a real rehearsal today. It was then that I realized how large the stage actually was. When we rehearsed in the hallway, we were in such close quarters that all of us were standing shoulder-to-shoulder. But now that we were in the theatre, I realized that I had to really utilize my space rather than just remaining solitude in one spot. To do so, I tried to make my movements larger and more exaggerated and I also tried to move around the stage. I'm not sure if this is what I'm actually supposed to do so I'll have to ask the director at our next rehearsal.

Some More Sakuntala

To refresh our memories about The Recognition of Sakuntala, we got into groups to discuss the purpose of the prologue for the play and how we could adapt the play for a modern audience to understand. As we reviewed the prologue we saw how it was formatted much like the play in the sense that there was dialogue followed by prose. We felt that the purpose of the prologue was to prepare the audience for the play by telling us the season: summer. By having the characters of the director and the actress it helps to adapt the play for a modern audience as the prologue describes what the audience should anticipate. In order to adapt the play for a modern audience, we decided to set the play in a melodrama so that the audience could easily distinguish the different characters: villain, hero, and heroine. We felt that the sage who had cursed Sakuntala to be the villain as he was the one creating the grief. We would utilize costumes from the original time period but would differentiate from the good and bad characters with colors. So evil characters would wear darker/black clothes and good characters would wear lighter/white clothes.

Other students proposed to omit parts of the poetic stanzas of the play in order to adapt it for a modern audience. By doing so we could make the play easier for a modern audience to understand so that they won't need to try to make sense of the unfamiliar language. Other groups proposed taking the play and setting it in a modern time period. To do so, they would change the names to modern names such as "Elizabeth" or "Jack" instead of using names such as "Sakuntala" or "King Dushyanta." So they would maintain the original plot.