Gruppo di fotografi in controluce in varie pose.

Che cosa succede quando si mettono insieme più persone? Il primo pensiero va subito alla grande difficoltà nel metterle d’accordo, al fatto che ciascuno vuole ragionare con la propria testa o decidere con il proprio cuore. Il più delle volte sembra un’operazione impossibile, un’idea morta già alla nascita. Anche quando ci sono degli interessi in comune o degli obbiettivi che tengono insieme le persone per qualche tempo è sempre molto facile che il gruppo si sfaldi e che si torni al predominio dell’individualità, dell’io sulla coesione. Quante volte assistiamo alla nascita di gruppi e gruppetti che alla prima difficoltà si sciolgono come ghiaccioli sotto il sole d’agosto. Oppure quante volte certi gruppi sembravano inossidabili, capaci di sfidare il tempo e invece si sono persi di vista come pivelli senza bussola nel bosco.

Pensiamo alle vicende degli Oasis o ai Beatles. In un’epoca in cui persino le coppie stentano a stare insieme tenere più di due persone insieme può diventare molto arduo. Purtroppo spesso prevale la disposizione al conflitto, al litigio persino. Ne nascono in continuazione e anche le mediazioni più abili non riescono a superare questa difficoltà. Perché prevale la logica dell’io e delle proprie convinzioni anche laddove ci sono le migliori intenzioni di collaborazione. Anzi il destino sembra divertirsi: laddove ci sono le migliori premesse a un certo punto c’è la tentazione radiale che fa esplodere il gruppo: sembra di stare in una lavatrice dove la forza centripeta tende a sbattere tutto all’esterno. Quante volte si sono rovinate per questo le migliori squadre di calcio o di altri sport per questo motivo che sembravano le più forti sulla carta. Altri team invece privi di aspettative di questo tipo finiscono con il dimostrare uno spirito di squadra molto più elevato da quel che pare dall’esterno. Chi non ricorda la nazionale italiana di calcio del 1982 guidata da Enzo Bearzot?

Questo mitico selezionatore riuscì a tenere insieme i più svariati e individualistici talenti di tutto quel mondiale di calcio. Quella nazionale assomiglia molto a Quella sporca dozzina, film del 1967 diretto da Robert Aldrich: un gruppo di galeotti riesce a compiere la più delicata e difficile missione segreta dell’esercito statunitense. Da dodici disperati criminali esce il più efficiente e affiatato gruppo di tutto l’esercito. Si instaurano in gruppi di questo tipo quelle dinamiche da microsocietà che ne fanno qualcosa di compatto per davvero. La storia del teatro ha conosciuto queste dinamiche con la costituzione delle prime compagnie di giro che furono le Compagnie della Commedia dell’arte nel XVI secolo. I giullari medievali capirono, infatti, la necessità di riunirsi in gruppi per superare insieme le difficoltà di ogni tipo, aiutati anche dal venir meno della censura della Chiesa sul teatro. Erano infatti compagnie girovaghe che recitavano per lo più in strade e piazze. Perché i loro spettacoli funzionassero gli attori dovevano essere molto affiatati e aiutarsi e sostenersi l’un l’altro, altrimenti era la fame. Non a caso le maschere della commedia dell’arte si affidavano alle improvvisazioni pur all’interno del canovaccio e dei tipi fissi. Grande doveva essere quindi l’ascolto degli attori tra di loro in scena perché tutti funzionasse. Questo ascolto diventa ancora più importante se togliamo le ultime due foglie di fico: canovaccio e personaggio fisso. E’ quel che accade con l’improvvisazione teatrale conosciuta ai giorni nostri e che ha preso le mosse dal Canada negli anni ‘70. Ne abbiamo già delineato una breve storia. L’ascolto diventa così il pilastro o, meglio, il cemento stesso di tutto il gruppo, quell’investimento necessario senza il quale tutta la scena, tutto lo spetacolo, gli attori stessi crollano, non si possono sostenere. E non è un caso che la maggior parte del training in questo campo sia basato sull’ascolto. Quando i principianti iniziano credono per lo più di essere grandi ascoltatori e grande è laloro sorpresa quando si accorgono di non esserlo in realtà, di come questo sia uno dei luoghi comuni più importanti da sfatare.

Artwork by Lukasz Pikora

CCSU’s theatre department has been busy all semester, and that will be a pattern that will only continue as we head into winter break.

First up for the department is a special double performance of The Unseen (directed by Eve Galanis)and Feeding the Moonfish ( directed by Ashley Carvalho). The performance will occur on Nov. 12 at 5:30 pm and Nov. 13 at 7:30 pm. Both showtimes will take place in the Black Box Theatre inside of Maloney Hall.

The Unseen, a play by Craig Wright, is about Wallace and Valdez, two men imprisioned by a totalitarian regime. The play revolves around the new relationships the two men and an enigmatic new prisoner develop as they’re tortured for unknown crimes. Playscripts.com describes the play as a “darkly humorous examination of faith in an uncertain world.”

Feeding the Moonfish, a play by Barbara Wiechmann, is described as a one-act play about a boy and a girl drawn together by natural forces and the inevitability of destiny. The play aims to answer many questions regarding decisions in life as the relationship between the moon and the moonfish is learned about.

Following the double bill on the theatre schedule is the production of Cirque du Fantasia. The title features both Commedia dell’Arte Shorts and Circus. The former being performed and created by an ensemble with the latter being directed by Kimberly Carvalho. The performance has two dates, Nov. 19 at 5 pm and Nov. 20 at 7:30 pm inside Torp Theatre.

Commedia dell’Arte promises to allow audience members to witness the comedy that inspired the likes of Charlie Chaplin, The Three Stooges and Wall-E in a “fast, physical, and Italian” fashion.

Circus is set in late 1800’s Europe and is a production that looks to put audience members in the circus state of mind. The CCSU theatre website describes the production as the following: “At night, the entertainment begins! The players get ready for their unsuspecting audience until the doors finally open, the curtain rises, and the show begins .”

And finally, occuring at the same time as Cirque du Fantasia, is a production titled Turkey-schlock. Appearing at the Black Box Theatre inside Maloney Hall on Nov. 19 at 7:30 pm, Turkey-schlock proves to remain a mystery on the theatre’s website. I guess you’ll have to attend to find out.

And as the 16 shows in 16 weeks performance bill continues, CCSU continues to be entertained by the work done by CCSU’s students and faculty. Be on a lookout for more shows in the month of December.

Nella gestione della comunicazione convergono quattro forme di teatro.

Il teatro dell’improvvisazione può “creare, inventare, spostarsi lateralmente o anche impulsivamente da un’idea all’altra, o semplicemente agire a piacere”. Gesti di associazione libera si accompagnano a metodi sistemici e premeditati finalizzati a  generare idee creative. Molto di ciò che avviene nei comportamenti organizzativi non può essere scritto. Il rischio del lavoratore è quello di aggrapparsi così ad una maschera.

Nella commedia dell’arte del XVI secolo le maschere, cioè dei personaggi fissi e stereotipati, facilmente riconoscibili dall’abbigliamento e dal comportamento, seguivano linee comportamentali prestabilite. La commedia dell’arte usava un canovaccio, cioè una traccia iniziale su cui costruire i dialoghi durante la performance, basandosi soprattutto sul feed-back del pubblico.

Nell’economia delle esperienze non basta rappresentare una maschera, è necessaria una energia autentica da trasferire alla propria audience.

In altri casi, nella spiegazione di un prodotto o nella gestione di un reclamo, l’azienda stabilisce un copione: cioè alcuni messaggi chiave che devono essere trasferiti ai clienti.

Il copione, cioè un testo formale di battute scritte, è “lineare e fisso, scorre in maniera sequenziale e quindi concede poche variazioni”. Anche il copione esige le prove. E la standardizzazione non può uccidere la forza dell’interpretazione della battuta. Il collaboratore deve in ogni caso prestare attenzione al feed-back del pubblico ed essere pronto ad abbandonare il copione per eventuali comportamenti che risultano adeguati a “quella specifica situazione”.

La terza forma di teatro applicata dalle imprese è il teatro di assemblaggio ovvero, tradotta sul piano mediale, il film. Distinte porzioni di lavoro, svolte in tempi diversi e spesso in luoghi diversi, vanno a formare un tutto unificato dopo  il montaggio. Anche i personaggi devono essere integrati in sequenza, come avviene nelle aziende in cui il management ha il desiderio di “presentare un’immagine coerente che armonizzi tutti coloro che rappresentano la compagnia”.

Vi è, infine, il teatro di strada, “il regno dei giocolieri, maghi, cantastorie, burattinai, pagliacci, mimi: tutti questi attori devono prima attrarre le persone alle loro performance, poi sorprendere l’ audience riunita”. Il mondo commerciale segue alcune strutture pronte e preparate, personalizzando di volta in volta lo spettacolo verso quello specifico cliente.

Gli approfondimenti sul tema nel mio libro “Televisione e teatro in azienda”, edito da ETAS.

In ambito del progetto “090909”, invitata da Rileggo – Libri e dischi usati mercoledì 4 novembre alle ore 21.00 i riflettori di Magazzino X sono puntati su Veronica Risatti e Joice Aglae Brondani, attrici itineranti, che portano in scena “Torques De Santos e Frammenti Di Profano”, un estratto di un progetto teatrale tra Italia e Brasile.

Tra i libri di Rileggo, a Magazzino X, mercoledì sera tocca l’anteprima di un lavoro teatrale ancora in fase di laboratorio e costruzione intitolato “Torques De Santos e Frammenti Di Profano”. Ciò che Veronica Risatti e Joice Aglae Brondani, che ha curato il montaggio e la drammaturgia, vogliono condividere con il pubblico sono degli appunti di viaggio presi durante un fortunato scambio di lavoro tra le due attrici che si ritrovano a percorrere all’incontrario le stesse tappe di ricerca artistica.

Quello che viene rappresentato è un piccolo estratto di  frammenti di sogni, realtà e desidério di far incontrare due culture d’appartenenza nell’arte del teatro. Non si sa se sia il Teatro a muovere il progetto di ricerca o sia più il desidério di due ricercatrici di fare del teatro, la dimensione elettiva come spazio d’incontro per le proprie radici culturali.
Joice Agle parte dal Brasile con le sue culture popolari e rituali di danza, canto, carnevale e teatro per arrivare al teatro delle Maschere italiano, mentre Veronica parte proprio da qui, dalla tradizione italiana della Commedia dell’Arte per arrivare a indagare nelle manifestazioni popolari brasiliane.
Da questo incrocio di destini nasce la storia di uno Zanni sertanejo (del Sertão) e di una Servetta da praia (della spiaggia), interpretati da Veronica Risatti e diretti da Joice Aglae Brondani, che cantano e danzano al suono di tamburi nell’intervallo delle proprie tirate.

Quando: mercoledì 4 novembre ore 21.00

Dove: Magazzino X in Via Torre d’Augusto – Trento

Not long ago, in one of the beach cities not too far from the downtown L, I saw a production of Moliere’s The Doctor Despite Himself that I’ve been procrastinating writing about.

My poor excuse reason is this: I’ve been putting it off because I fear I’m unable to convince you to go see it. But you need to. It was so much fun. I enjoyed the production and the feel of the Electric Lodge’s ambiance and artistic atmosphere (so perfectly located in Venice Beach!). So much so that I am now convinced a mediocre review is better than no attempt to encourage you to go out and see it.

"Please come see me!" is what I would say if I were the production

The Doctor Despite Himself is adapted/directed by Gulu Monteiro and translated by Clara Bellar along with the cast (who all comprise the Ipanema Theater Troupe?). Hysterical and incredibly fun to watch. After having read Tartuffe multiple times throughout my academic career–and not being able to remember much of the one two three four five acts–the rug was completely swept from under me to realize Jean-Baptiste Poquelin is actually quite funny!

The translation and adaptation of the production is a world premiere, and Monteiro’s experimentation with an acting style that draws its inspiration from the Commedia dell’arte predecessors known as the Buffoons works just oh!sowell. Briefly, these actors resembling the buffoons are somewhat synonymous with clowns and jestors. For the production the Ipanema Theater Troupe is decked out in costumes comprised of enormous three-dimensional shapes that seem as if they’ve been stuffed with foam. The characters prance around the stage in a way that almost feels like we’re royalty and they really are our own personal jesters. I could have easily spent half the show simply admiring the vibrant colors and ridiculousness of their costumes.

Photo Credit: Culture Mob Beta (Thanks culturemob.com!)

The actors are talented and so invested in the story that I became so unaware at times at just how ridiculous the costumes were getting. Waiting in the lobby of the Electric Lodge for the show to begin, our cue came from the bickering couple of Martine (wife) and Sganarelle (husband) pushing their way through us. As they fought and took their time getting center stage, the audience walked into the house. Usually such physical interaction with the audience worries me because it can get awkward so quickly. But the actors were committed to their characters to the extent that whatever hesitation I may have had about being so up close to these ridiculous costumes and characters went away as they kept on fighting. Martine and Sganarelle played off of one another so effortlessly. If an audience member started to feel alienated, instead of trying to alleviate the situation by continuing an in-character ramble, the actor would simply turn to his/her lover and make some crude remark about marriage.

I had arrived at the theatre only minutes before the intended start time, so was unable to read the program prior to the show. Not until half way into the production did I realize the (pretty) blatant commentary concerning healthcare in the U.S. that the production made, criticizing our doctors and healthcare system. It was done with such stealth and it did not detract from the simplest desire of wanting to know how the play ended.

Paintings in the lobby of the Electric Lodge

Note the work on the ceiling. How interesting to look at while waiting to go in!

The Electric Lodge is inviting and the lobby was full of interesting art works and reading material that passed the time until the house opened. The location felt safe and there seemed to be plenty of street parking.

Complementary wine and snacks--perfect for the children!

I cannot express in a blog alone how excited I am to see more theatre in L.A. because of this show, and how much I hope casts and directors produce works like The Doctor Despite Himself. Put simply: Go. And enjoy it. And be thoroughly entertained.

Voilà donc un sublissimo « melting pot », pot fondu, d’images des plus « dell’artiennes »

Très belle image de ember.inspiration qui nous montre la fin d’un travail accomplit! A noter que ce ne sont pas tout les peronnages qui sont masqué! on pourrais donc parler ici d’une pièce a saveur goldonienne ou tout simplement plus comtemporaine ou post-renaissance. Cependant on peux remarquer la présence la Brighella à gauche et Pantalone, à droite. (PS : Theatro piccolo)

Voilà donc une scène de la pièce Arlecchino, servitore di due padroni (Arlequin, serviteur de deux maîtres) du Theatro piccolo de Milan. Cette image à été mise en ligne par 03STE. J’aimerais attiré votre attention sur la scénographie extremement intéréssente de ce spectacle. On suppose une scène de bois déposé elle-même sur une scène. Ce qui permet de situé l’oeuvre a son origine : soit la représentation de pièces dans un campiello, un petit quartier : dans la rue!

Quel beau costume! le Capitan à l’honneur, accompagné d’arlequin avec un costume se situant au début de la commedia alors ce celui-ci était composé de quelques bout de tissus rapiecé. Le costume du Capitan est bien sur celui de l’envahisseur espagnole (XV-XVIe siècle). Cette image à été mise en ligne par MASCA TEATRU, toujours sur FLICKR.

Votre opinion tout simplement! Dites-nous votre personnage de la Commedia dell’arte qui vous touche le plus, et pourquoi?!

Voilà ce en quoi consiste le projet Commedia di strada.

Les Charlatans italiens de Karel Dujardin

In caz ca va intrebati daca in Romania mai exista si altfel de actori tineri, in afara de Nicoletele, Adelele si Papadopolii din telenovelele de pe Acasa Tv, va sfatuiesc sa faceti un popas la teatrul Masca. Spre rusinica mea, nici eu nu mai fusesem de multisor la teatru, asa ca ma dezobisnuisem sa vad ce inseamna talentul… live. 

Asa ca, atunci cand am vazut, zilele trecute, piesa Sluga la doi stapani, dupa Carlo Goldoni, in regia lui Mihai Malaimare, cu o distributie formata exclusiv din actori tineri, am ramas cu gura cascata. Ca sa descriu prestatia lor ar trebui sa folosesc sintagme precum: entuziasm debordant, energie nestavilita, pasiune arzatoare, veselie molipsitoare… si as putea sa continui cu multe alte cuvinte laudative din DEX.

Si aici nu e vorba doar de talent si dictie buna; fiind commedia dell’arte, prestatia actoriceasca presupune un mare angajament fizic: sarituri, cazaturi, alergatura, salturi la trambulina, dans etc.; miscarile si gesturile trebuie sa fie foarte ample, chiar exagerate, iar replicile se rostesc cu voce tare, din strafundul plamanilor. Sincer, nu cred ca vreun om “normal” pe care il cunosc (si nici Adelele sau Nicoletele) ar fi in stare sa sustina un spectacol de doua ore intr-un ritm aproape infernal, asa cum au facut-o Andrei Gonczi, Ana Sivu Daponte, Alina Craita, Ana Turos, Aurel Sandu, Valentin Mihalache, Bogdan Angelescu, Razvan Teodorescu si Ionut Ghenu. Un “jos palaria” in mod special pentru Andrei Gonczi, in rolul principal (Truffaldino), care sper din tot sufletul sa aiba norocul de a primi numai roluri bune si sa ajunga o celebritate. Este un tip cu talent cat carul, energic, cu voce buna (adica poate sa si cante) si mai ales daruit cu genul acela de charisma care “umple” scena.

Deci daca vreti sa petreceti o seara frumoasa in care sa radeti cu gura pana la urechi si sa descoperiti o noua generatie de actori adevarati, va recomand calduros sa va luati bilete la teatrul Masca. Si promit solemn sa ma duc mai des la teatru!

Look at 'em go.

I have been designing variations of these characters since I was an adolescent.  They stemmed from my early years watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 80’s and having the unusual condition of a high school drama teacher for a mother.  I am something of an odd person, therefor it is expected that I would probably draw odd things.  I hope that someday my little oddlings will find a place in the world.  I knew about Harlequin, Pierrot, and Columbine simply from being around the theatre at a young age.  Images of them pop up everywhere, mostly out of some art-deco construct as some sort of motif.  I liked to collect images of french clowns for my room until I discovered that they were actually quite frightening.  I wasn’t really formally introduced to Commedia dell’Arte until I was thirteen and I saw a student’s reproduction of Picasso’s Three Musicians in the  office where I attended junior high.  

The Italian Theatre is less refined and elegant than the French adaptation.  It’s bawdier, earthier, and the characters are merely at the mercy of their carnal appetites.  They can’t be bothered with the moon.  Unless they fear it might be crashing down on their heads.  They are vulgar, brash, and at times somewhat demonic.  But it’s all in the spirit of good fun.  Their reactions, affects, and demeanors are all instinctual, in this way they are something more like animals than like people.  They are us at our most basic functions.  It’s how we can laugh at them and ourselves at the same time.  

So, if Commedia snuck up behind some of my favourite cartoons from Saturday mornings; let’s say Warner Bros, Hannah Barbarah, Disney, etc., seduced them, tossed them in a haystack, and abandoned them breathless and knocked up, these would be the bastard children of that union.  Their lineage may be questionable, but I have to love them.  

Granted, my interpretations are also influenced by the visual artists that were also obsessed with Commedia, especially Maurice Sand, the son of Georges Sand.  His renderings of the stock characters make mine look like crude schoolbook doodles.  Of course, I have read a few books on the subject that criticize him for killing Commedia dell’Arte dead, on the basis that his images were so popular that the characters became frozen in time and could not adapt with the changing world, therefore they become obsolete.  Which is positively ridiculous!

Many factors led to the death of Commedia, but I don’t think the blame can be attached to any one artist.  Probably the biggest nail in the coffin was taking in out of the streets and scripting it.  Originally Commedia dell’Arte was all improvised, performed in the public squares, and free for everybody.   That is probably more of what Commedia dell’Arte is than characters, masks, and costumes.  I admit openly that these illustrations are anachronisms from the past with my own sick little bent.  I don’t imagine anything for them other than that, besides the fact that they are great fun to draw and that they bring me joy.  But if they also bring Commedia to a larger audience than that would also please me greatly.  

One day I would like to see a true resurgence of Commedia in the world.  Until then I have my cheeky drawings to keep e company.

Oficina Máscara, base para arte do autor

VII Simpósio de Arte-Educação da Unicentro

Ana Rosa Tezza, Diretora executiva e Atriz do Arte da Comédia, ofertará ao Oficina  “Oficina Máscara, base para arte do autor“ no VII Simpósio de Arte-Educação da Unicentro, entre 28 de setembro e 02 de outubro. Também participará de mesa redonda com as professoras  Márcia Strazzacappa(UNICAMP) e Vânia M. Fialho (UEM).

Veja  a ementa da oficina:

OFICINA 3
MÁSCARA, BASE PARA ARTE DO AUTOR
Ms. Ana Rosa Genari Tezza
30 vagas

Durante o curso conceituaremos o teatro desenvolvido pelos Comediantes dell’Arte (Itália, século XVI), apontando as principais qualidades do gênero teatral desenvolvido por eles, a Commedia dell’Arte. Haverá uma explanação sobre os principais aspectos históricos que contribuíram para o desenvolvimento desse gênero teatral. Serão ainda feitos exercícios para o desenvolvimento da habilidade do uso da máscara como treinamento do ator, assim como exercícios de improvisação com a máscara com o fim de criar um espaço de vivencia onde os alunos poderão perceber como se cria um repertório de ações, recurso amplamente utilizado pelos atores da Commedia dell’Arte.

Ana Rosa Genari  Tezza possui mestrado em Teatro pela Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (2007). Tem experiência na área de Artes, com ênfase em Interpretação Teatral, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: teatro, teatro de rua, máscara, commedia dell’arte e ópera. Começou o trabalho de atriz com a montagem de Romeu e Julieta dirigida por Cleon Jaques em 1988 em Curitiba no papel da Ama. Cursou Artes Cênica na Uni Rio, mas concluiu seus estudos em interpretação em Curitiba na Faculdade de Artes do Paraná. Atuou em Santiago do Chile na Companhia de Teatro Sombrero Verde dirigida por Andrés Peres Araya de 1992 a 1996. Entre os trabalhos que realizou como atrizes nesse período destacam-se: El Desquite, texto de Dom Roberto Parra; e La Noche de los Asesinos do cubano Jose Triana, dirigido pelo peruano Ítalo Panfichi. Mestre Artes Cênicas pela UDESC, Universidade de Santa Catarina. Coordenou a implantação da disciplina de teatro na Escola Internacional de Curitiba de 2003 a 2007, onde dirigiu: Sonho de Uma noite de Verão, Romeu e Julieta, Noite de Reis e A Ópera dos Três Vinténs, com o Grupo de teatro do Colégio Internacional de Curitiba. Integrou como atriz e pesquisadora o núcleo de criação teatral do ACT em 2001 onde posteriormente ministrou oficinas de interpretação e participou do projeto de pesquisa teatral Cartas Cartas Cartas . Atuou ainda em algumas obras do grupo Cia Senhas de Teatro: O Deus nos Acuda, A Farsa de Mary Help, Devorateme e João and Maria. Nos últimos dois anos, trabalha como atriz no Grupo A Arte da Comédia, onde desenvolve uma pesquisa sobre o teatro com máscara além do teatro em espaços públicos.

Voilà quelques minutes que je « surf » dans internet à la recherche de quelques rares perles (françaises) sur la Commedia dell’arte. Et ne voilà pas mon étonnement lorsque, tout à coup, surgissant d’un buisson tel un fauve désireux de connaître l’heure de son prochain repas, je tombis, par le plus pur des hasards… sur un confrère, bloguiste depuis déjà tout près de deux ans. Ah! Oui je vous entends déjà me dire mon très cher ami lecteur, mais de quoi parles-tu?! Cesse de me tenir en haleine!!!… et bien voilà! bbbrbrbrrbrrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbbr (roulements de tambours) :

Lazzi et quolibets

Un très beau blogue axé sur l’art de faire des lazzi, et également… croyez-le ou non des quolibets : Ne t’inquiètes pas ma douce lectrice… un quolibet est simplement une

1. Plaisanterie vulgaire et injurieuse.
   • Dans une réunion électorale à Bazeilles, les assistants ont abreuvé de quolibets un contradicteur qui affirmait: “Si l’ouvrier est malheureux, c’est par rapport aux riches”. — (Henri Manceau, Des luttes ardennaises, 1969)

Fin de la parenthèse

En somme, allez donc jeter un petit et sérieux, mais décontracté, coup d’oeil sur ce blogue lazzissimo!

En BONI : Une image du lazzi de la mouche de notre cher ami Arlequin! (en bas à gauche)

]]> http://jeanmichelstcyr.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/le-lazzi/ Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:42:38 +0000 jmstcyr http://jeanmichelstcyr.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/le-lazzi/

La commedia dell’arte est bien sur composé de lazzi s’articulant autour du canevas de la pièce.

Voila donc un vidéo du personnage d’arlecchino qui se laisse bercer par quelques uns de ses plus beau lazzi!

Voilà un très bel échantillonnage  de quelques masques de la commedia dell’arte par Arnold Sandhaus (Comédien et « Maskmaker ») : soit Polichinelle, Pantalone, Arlequin, Dottore et le Capitan!

Le tout, bien sûr : en action!

We were very fortunate to have our own Simon Webb deliver the Sunday Coffee Talk lecture for Black Comedy on Sept 20. He plays the character Georg Bamburger, who doesn’t make his entrance until late in the play. This meant that, as well as his own wealth of experience as a performer, he was able to bring knowledge of the play’s rehearsal process–knowing the intimate details that went into its creation. It is always interesting to know the background of a play, especially one so bound to a genre and comic tradition as Black Comedy is to Farce.

“Farce is one of our most enduring and influential dramatic forms. Farces over three hundred years old are still making people laugh today.

The recipe for Farce is simple and time-honoured. First, take a handful  of stock characters, stereotypes that reflect our too-human faults and failings: pride, greed, lust, deceit, jealousy, snobbery – all the good stuff. Add to this a simple plot-premise, say, a man trying to muster the courage to propose. Throw in a tiny problem or obstacle, such as mentioning an ancient property dispute between the two families, and watch as the mixture ferments. Misunderstanding multiplies miraculously, manic desperation sets in, fantastic stratagems are wildly improvised. Yet the poor sap who started it all always has the irrational and unshakeable belief that if he can survive the next two minutes, everything will be alright.  And he’s always horribly and hysterically wrong. But while Farce is relentless in pointing out human idiocy, it is also very forgiving of it. Despite everybody’s flaws, things always turn out right in the end–usually by the luck of blind Fate, seldom by the  wisdom of the characters.

 The word ‘farce’  is originally French, and means ’stuffing,’ in the culinary sense, ‘padding’ in the sense of padding a speech or presentation. The first farces, back in the late middle ages, were just this second kind of stuffing – short comic plays to pad the short breaks in those long and very serious presentations, Morality Plays. I imagine that for the common person, those early farces were a welcome respite from five hours of compulsory upliftment. The characters in morality plays were abstractions of human and supernatural virtues and vices–highly sophisticated, but remote from everyday life in the trenches–whereas these early farces were populated with real characters, who had real names, real jobs, real problems, and an earthy mix of typical human faults and foibles, getting into jams, and stumbling about to get out of them. They must have been much more accessible  to their, largely illiterate, audience than the Angels and Everyman.

In Renaissance Italy, a very physical and acrobatic style developed, incorporating old performance traditions that dated from the Roman Empire, and the comedies of Plautus.  This became known as the Commedia dell Arte – The Comedy of the Artists’ Guilds. The professional touring troupes of the Comedia performed outdoors at fairs and markets on makeshift stages. The style was broad, exaggerated, burlesqued, as it had to be to be seen and heard over the noise of a market fair.  The dialogue was improvised around a short sketch by stock, masked characters. The physical action was a series of well-rehearsed, often acrobatic comic ‘bits,’ or ‘lazzi.’  There was sometimes female nudity (and authoritarian outrage!) and always violent scenes where the cast chased and beat each other with the original ’slapsticks.’  And they were free, just like street performances today.

The early Comedia characters have stayed with us, and have evolved and proliferated over the years. There is the rascally, witty servant, Zanni, who gave us the word ‘zany.’   Zanni quickly evolved into Arlechino, (Harlequin), and Pierrot and all the other precursors to modern clowns,  and the clash of interests between him and his Venetian master, Pantalone, old and rich, lustful and easily duped, was fundamental to farce for the next three hundred years. There was Il Dottore, the self-proclaimed Doctor of everything, the know-it-all who knows nothing;  and Il Capitano, the loudmouth soldier who is in fact a devout coward – Shakespeare’s Falstaff is a sort of English Il Dottore, and the famous Cyrano de Bergerac is a later French incarnation, by a now altogether wittier, much braver a man of action, known also to the French as Scaramouche.

And of course, there were the young, star-crossed overs, the Inamorati, Silvio and Isabella, Flavio and Columbina, Leandro and Corollina (and here’s an interesting byline – Italy was alone in all of Europe in having women play women’s roles. Everywhere else it was men.) These stock characters can still be recognized in modern farce, whether on the stage, in film, or on television – from The Honeymooners on you’ll find a raft of characters with a long pedigree, always updated for their time. Jerry Seinfeld was describing all farce when he said of his own series,  “it’s about unpleasant people, being selfish.” But, selfish or not, it is their vices that allow us to laugh at their comeuppances, and their perennial ineptitude that endears them to us.

Italy, of course, was for Europe the mother-lode of all things cultural, and the Commedia beacme popular all over the continent, and nowhere so much as in  Paris. By 1650 or so the plays were no longer improvised, and the literary side of farce began to be emphasized, as the actors switched languages from their native Italian to French, took on native actors, and began to work with the greatest writers of the time,  from Moliere to Marivaux, to Goldoni, Dufresny, Regnards, La Motte, Lefranc, and a host of others. The plays were now being sponsored by the nobility, who often have the knack, if they see the common man enjoying something, of claiming it as their own and putting the price up–now the plays were performed indoors, and you had to buy a ticket.

So it was that the Comedie Itallienne became established in Paris in the late 1600’s. It’s still there, and has operated with very few interruptions. One such came in 1697 when they  put on a new farce called The False Prude, which took direct aim at the behaviour of the Queen herself, Madame de Mantenon. Her husband, Louis XIV wasn’t too happy about it, so he closed the theatre and kicked the actors out of town. They weren’t invited back for almost 20 years. The fragility of government support for the arts is not new, apparently. In 1680 Louis XIV founded the Comedie Francaise, not too long before he closed the Comedie Italienne. The Comedie Francaise was a bold national statement, and was the home theatre of the great Moliere. It’s still going strong today, with three theatres and a repertoire of over 3,000 works. Often politically edgy, though cautiously so, by today’s more democratic standards. Under the monarchy they generally got away it, rather like the King’s  appointed jester. But a little more than a century later, Robespierre threw all the actors in jail and closed the theatre for seven years. Because a single audience member complained about a single speech on the subject of religious tolerance.

Regardless of government intervention, by the end of the 1600s France had developed the two principal styles of comedic farce that we still have today: the older Italian style, very broad and physical and acrobatic, and the newer French style, where the acrobatics are verbal, and quick wit dominates over slapstick. And they continued to evolve until the end of the 19th century, when they were brought to their ultimate form by Eugene Labiche, and then Georges Feydeau. Their farces are still regularly performed, such as An Italian Straw Hat, and A Flea in her Ear. Feydeau, in particular, as insanity gripped him and a darker mood fell over his work, is seen as a precursor to the Dadaists, the Surrealists, and the Absurdists, right up to and including Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, whose plays are very beholden to another inheritor of Comedia – the British music hall.

Strangely, there was no similar development of farce in Britain. Some of Shakespeare can be properly called farce, for example The Comedy of Errors, but after that there was nothing for three hundred years (the Restoration comedies are pure social satire and burlesque, rather than farce) until suddenly, at the fin de siecle, we get Brandon Thomas and Oscar Wilde. Thomas’s great play, Charlie’s Aunt, and Oscar Wilde’s most famous, The Importance of Being Earnest, sum up the two styles of French-derived farce. Charlie’s Aunt leans heavily on physical comedy, which was to become the bigger characterisic of British farce; The Importance of Being Earnest thrives on verbal alacrity, packed with satirical epigrams.

Then in the 1920s suddenly a truly British innovation, a new form of farce, the bedroom farce, the kind with too many doors and lots of sexual innuendo to match the new morality (or lack thereof) of the Jazz Age. This was all down to one man, Ben Travers. His famous series at the Aldwych Theatre: Rookery Nook, Turkey Time, Thark, A Cup of Kindness, A Cuckoo In The Nest, these plays set the tone for British farce for the next 50 years, including the great Whitehall farces of the 30’s and 40’s, the comedies of Alan Ayckbourn, and of course, Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy. Noel Coward, meanwhile, took on Wilde’s mantle, in Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, Present Laughter, Hay Fever, and many more.

Farce thrives on social upheaval, the death of old ways, the difficult birth of new, and has always been good a vehicle for social commentary.   18th century farce often revolved around love and marriage – the arranged marriages of the old school, and the romantic love-matches of the new. So it is with Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy, and Anton Checkov’s A Marriage Proposal [this is the curtain warmer which plays before Black Comedy]. In one you will see tthe new sexual freedom of the 60’s, against the old rigidity of class, and the idea of marriage for social prestige and money, rather than true love and the meeting of like minds. Zanni, Pantalone, Il Dottore, Silvio and Isabella, are still on the stage, almost four hundred years after they first appeared in the Comedia. In A Marriage Proposal, a very traditional proposal is fatally jeopardized by an ancient property dispute. The old Russian values, tied to land and tradition, are not under threat new ideas, but from the old.  It’s a uniquely Chekovian twist.

No modern form of drama carries it’s own history with it as much as farce, and none is more capable, not only of mere survival, but of complete regeneration.

If you are interested in attending our Sunday Coffee Talk Lecture Series, call the Box office for details 604.687.1644 or visit artsclub.com!

Voici quelques mots clefs très utile dans le cadre d’une recherche soit sur internet ou pour toute autre recherche. Ceux-ci s’inscrivant, bien sûr, dans le cadre de la commedia dell’arte.

• Commedia dell’arte (2)
• Théâtre italien (2)
• Théâtre de rue (2)
• Comédie de masque (2)
• Farce (2)

Bonne recherche et place au théâtre!

Voici la performance d’un icône que j’affectionne particulièrement: Ferrucio Soleri. Je crois que cet arlequin incarne a la perfection l’image de l’arlequin classique.