Commedia Dell Arte Analysis

Homunculus Theatre Company successfully created a Commedia Dell’Arte piece through the utilisation of conventions of commedia and the dramatic elements to effectively produce dramatic meaning. ’20 lazzi’s in a hat’ “showcases numerous masked stock characters, hilarious burle and 20 of Commedia’s famous traditional lazzi consisting of verbal asides on current political, social and literary topics, pratfalls and acrobatics (Homunculus Theatre company, n.d.).” Commedia Dell’Arte is a form of comedic theatre that originated in Italy in the 16th century (Wilson, 2010). This form of theatre was first established as a street performance in the Italian renaissance and served as a comic release to the people in the market places. “This colourful and extremely theatrical art form is based on the interaction of traditional stock characters in improvised scenarios that facilitate a comic plot to arrive at a humorous climax (Shane Arts, n.d.).” Homunculus theatre company created an excellent example of Commedia Dell’Arte through the manipulation of the elements of Commedia Dell’Arte and drama in order to perform a truly successful performance.

Homunculus skilfully used a one-dimensional storyline in order to create humour and keep the audience engaged. Usually in a typical storyline there is often growth, change and internal conflict carried out by a single character. However, a one-dimensional storyline allows …show more content…
Through the audience interaction and the utilisation of the conventions of drama and Commedia Dell’ Arte the actors successfully emphasised the human vices evident in each character to generate humour and establish that everyone has negative qualities present in their personality. Thus, Homunculus Theatre Company’s representation of Commedia Dell’ Arte was extremely successful as they effectively manipulated the conventions of commedia and drama to establish dramatic