an improvised style of comedy popular during the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, originating in Italy and involving stock characters and the use of masks
Type of improvised drama popular in sixteenth and seventeenth century Italy; makes use of stereotyped characters.
This is a term used for professional improvized Italian-style Masked Comedy of the 16th and 17th centuries. Antonio Fava points out that this really represents 'all theater' in the time period of interest. The term was not in use in the 16th century. The term can roughly be translated to Comedy (or happy songs) by people in theatercraft. Some terms used during our period of interest include Commedia Italiana, Commedia Improvvisa, or the more specific, Commedia di Zanni (for servant comedy), or Commedia di Gratiani (for pedant comedy). The pejorative terms Commedia d'Istrioni, Commedia Mercenaria, and Commedia a Braccio (off the cuff) were also sometimes used.
(cohm-MEH-dee-ah dehl AHR-teh) (Italian) — A type of comic play popular in Italy in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. There were both literary plays and others that were improvised using stock characters and gestures. The characters were often masked to represent certain types.
A form of largely improvised, masked street theatre that began in northern Italy in the late sixteenth century and still can be seen today. The principal characters - Arlecchino, Pantalone, Columbine, Dottore, and Scapino among them - appear over and over in thousands of commedia stories.
Italian comedy of the 16th to 18th centuries improvised from standardized situations and stock characters
figures (Italian) Figures representing 16 characters in Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical genre that was especially popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Flameworkers made models of these figures, often copying illustrations in Lelio Riccoboni's Histoire du théâtre italien (1728–1731)
(coe-MAY-dee-ah Del-ART-eh) A style of dramatic presentation popular in Italy from the 16th century on; the commedia characters were highly stylized and the plots frequently revolved around disguises, mistaken identities and misunderstandings. The principal commedia characters are Pierrot, Harlequin and Colombine. Operatic spoofs of the commedia characters can be found in PAGLIACCI and ARIADNE AUF NAXOS.
Popular in Italy, plots revolve around disguises, mistaken identities, and misunderstanding.
this movement began as a disrespected, improvised form of street theatre in 16th-century Italy. It is best known for its high-spirited characters, including Harlequin, Columbine, Pantalone, Scaramouche and Pulcinella. These characters have been represented in porcelain sculptures, paintings and engravings for centuries.
A professional form of theatrical improvisation, developed in Italy in the 1500s, featuring stock characters and standardized plots.
Commedia dell'arte (Italian: "play of professional artists" also interpreted as "comedy of humors"), also known as Extemporal Comedy, was a popular form of improvisational theater which began in Italy in the 15th century (1400s) and maintained its popularity through to the 18th century (1700s), although it is still performed today. All of their performances were outside with few props, unscripted and were free to watch, funded by donations. In a troupe there were 10 people: 7 men and 3 women.
