Commedia Dell Arte History

Commedia Dell’ Arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actresses and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Commedia Dell’ Arte means an improvised kind of popular comedy in Italian theaters that is based on stock characters. Actors adapted their comic dialogue and action according to a few basic plots (commonly love intrigues) and to topical issues during the 16th-18th century. Commedia Dell’ Arte was used in theaters as early as Rome in 1551. It was created in Italian theaters as a form of comedy and tragedy. Commedia Dell’ Arte also gave women the ability to perform on stage for the first time. Commedia Dell’ Arte today is sometimes used in movie, theatre productions and many other forms of entertainment. Some movies that use Commedia Dell’ Arte is “The Phantom of the Opera” when the ending scene has at the beginning of Don Juan Triumphant written none other than the masked phantom of the Paris Opera house, the beginning of the play everyone but the young maiden wears a mask this one form of Commedia Dell’ Arte. In greek theater they used masks …show more content…
For example in a famous greek story Oedipus the King, some theatres have used different masks that are used for specific characters like for the peasants the will have much different masks and as well as cloths than the royal family, the seer, the council and the corus. Some circuses also use Commedia Dell’ Arte for performances were a performer will wear a mask while doing a stunt or clowns will wear mask to entertain children. Some Commedia Dell’ Arte performances will be pantomimes were the will were masks and do thing that the narrator says the action that is going