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.