Commedia Dell Arte Stock Characters Masks

The characters of the commedia usually represent fixed social types and stock characters such as foolish old men or devious servants.

Commedia dell arte stock characters masks.

The commedia dell arte employs basic stock characters fictional people who are amusing predictable and two dimensional. Though there was some doubling of masks roles most players created their own masks or developed ones already established. The young lovers are always in love. Commedia dell arte has four stock character groups.

Il dottore the doctor 4. The servants or zanni these are characters such as arlecchino brighella pulcinella and pedrolino all masked. Most of the characters wear masks but even those without masks e g. This helped to keep a traditional continuity while allowing diversity.

Arlecchino mangione is a servant a trickster glutton and a clown. The old men or vecchi characters such as pantalone and il dottore also masked. It was not uncommon for an actor in a commedia dell arte troupe to play the same stock character for most of his or her career. A mask creates a.

The lovers or innamorati who would have names such as flavio and isabella. Pulecenella is a classical character that originated in commedia dell arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in neapolitan puppetry pulcinella s versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept the character popular in countless forms since his introduction to commedia dell arte by. The lovers treat their personas as masks. The commedia masks must show emotion and intelligence as they are covering the face which is the main place emotion can be seen on someone.

Creating a commedia character. Each commedia dell arte company had a stock of scenarios commonplace books of soliloquies and witty exchanges and about a dozen actors. So you re not creating a new commedia character. Commedia dell arte masks are one of the most integral aspects of each stock character.

And the captains or capitani who can also be la signora if a female. Masks were originally all made of leather but now more commonly made of neoprene. Although commedia dell arte flourished in italy during the mannerist period there has been a long standing tradition of trying to establish historical antecedents in antiquity. In commedia the characteristics of a character such as a walk a pose or a gesture are just like wearing a mask.

Zanni is probably not the first character that springs to mind when you think of commedia dell arte characters. That is because the. Each character has defined attributes that never change. Leap into the commedia in these masks.

Masks should be an extension of an actor and their costume hair and accessories. After you choose a category you need to choose a character. These high quality neoprene commedia masks have been based on the stock characters of the commedia dell arte. While we can detect formal similarities between the commedia dell arte and.