Commedia dell'Arte

Commedia dell'Arte is a very ancient theatre style, dating back to the sixteenth century. However, it is also a very adaptable theatre form, and its focus on current events and contemporary jokes mean it is always relevant today. The simple, sometimes coarse, humour and silly stock characters are used to make the audience laugh, both at figures of authority, but also at the characteristics they recognise in themselves.

Commedia is centred on the audience, and the improvisation element of the style means that it is able to respond and adapt depending on the audience. There is a sense of collusion with audience members demonstrated by frequent asides and no fourth wall.

There are several key aspects of Commedia Dell’Arte that make it distinctive. Nearly every play is based on a set scenario. The scenario is adapted to a particular audience by referencing current events and generally involves some form of mistaken identity, or conflict.

Stock characters appear in most scenarios and always are always the same. The Zanni are low status, always wanting food or sex. They are the main cause of misunderstanding due to their stupidity. The lovers are dignified, unconcerned with anything except their mutual adoration. Pantalone is a greedy merchant, the Doctor pretends to know everything, the Captain is a cowardly soldier, and so on. Each character has an unmistakeable physicality setting them apart. Didi Hopkins on Youtube describes the characteristics and physicality of the Commecdia characters and seeing professional actors construct them step by step was useful to me.

Within a scenario a character will often have a Lazzi, a repeated action that builds up the comedy of their character. For example, if the Doctor tries to be dignified, his hat might repeatedly fall off so he has to bend over to pick it up. Lazzi are also used in individual scenes to increase humour; cross talk occurs when a character repeats questions to avoid answering them. Long strings of silly insults such as “cat’s bottom” are also used. 

Useful Resources:

Books

• Commedia Dell’Arte: An actor’s handbook – John Rudlin
• Lazzi – Mel Gordon
• Commedia Plays – Barry Grantham
• Playing Commedia – Barry Grantham
• A Servant to Two Masters – Carlo Goldoni
• The Magic of Pants – Jonah Maidoff

Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMhmZm2ZP0 – Reading a newspaper turns into an all out war between groups of Zanni
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95EzlJDaPZo –  filmed production of Café Floriani in which The Doctor and two Zanni attempt to put a café out of business
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jpW3O4rv7s – exploration of music in Commedia dell’arte as Zanni use music to attract women
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=h_0TAXWt8hY&feature=endscreen –National Theatre video on Commedia characters and their physicality

Websites

• http://math.bu.edu/people/jeffs/scenario.html - The scenario of the Red Hat
• http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html - history and outline of Commedia
• http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/backstage/commedia-dellarte - national Theatre information on shape, emotion, language and characters
• http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/commedia.html - information on the individual Commedia characters
• http://www.theater-masks.com/about_commedia_dell_arte - about the commedia masks

Production Seen: Oh What a Lovely War

Description, what it told me, successful?

The Connaught Theatre, Worthing (11/10/11) (Joan Littlewood; the Theatre Group)

Small proscenium arch, also a cinema

Aims: distancing (V-effect, Brechtian), against war, class differences, soldier solidarity, harsh conditions, tragedy of war, magnitude, effects of war (good/bad)

Genre: Ensemble musical piece with comedic and Brechtian elements

Cast (5):                 

Robert Harding (moranneville, Scotland, drill sergeant, church officer, German Kaiser, spy, Hague)

Ben Harrison (nurse, America, keen new soldier, lanrezac, solier chucks boot, plant pot/women)

Joseph Mann (scared soldier, French aide, hell song puppet, Switzerland)

Paul Morse (singing lady, hell song puppet, England (shooting), trench inspecting officer, French, wipers gazette, washing line lady-SR, MC)

Tom Neill (awkward soldier, English aide, French (shooting), mrs pankhurst, washing line lady-SL, vicar)

Director: Adrian McDougall                  

Set Designer: Victoria Spearing

Lighting: Oliver Welsh

Costume: Fiona Davis; Pamela Wiggin

Set-non naturalistic

Preset

·         18 white crosses – 9 across the back/3 groups of 3 SL: used as costume and prop stands

·         White screen on back wall (blank) - news panel

·         DSR: music stands and instruments: keyboard, drum kit on block, percussion, trombone, flute, drum, accordion, trumpet, saxophone, ukulele

Other

·         Trench: rostra create “wall” or entrance

·         Church: rostra stacked one, then one on top of one behind (+ slightly SL) = levels

·         Mrs Pankhurst: rostrum create podium

·         Puppets for hell song: 2 rostra = screen (puppets kneel behind), 1 rostra = platform for singer

·         4 crosses = female dancers in ballroom scene – floaty material = dresses

·         Costumes/props gradually removed – final image: white crosses, shadows, actor silhouettes

·         Washing line

Lighting

·         Generally cold, full washes, often spots on characters/isolated scenes (nurse, church, shooting)

·         Actors started before house lights went down

·         House lights up before play started + stage lights up = v effect

·         Dim lights during trench scene, blue lights = sinister; creates silhouette for meeting w/ German

·         Low lights for final silhouette

Sound

·         music created by actors on stage

·         explosions used in many scenes

·         songs all sung by the men, even female ones

Costume

·         sepia: brown trousers, cream shirt, brown waistcoat w/brown Pierrot pompoms, detachable ruffs, braces?

·         army jackets used, drill sergeant had red sash, vicar = black shirt + dog collar underneath jacket, tail coats

·         officers hats, tin helmets, national headgear, German ‘spiky hats’, admiral’s tricorn, headscarves, ladies hats w/ feathers

·         black dress (I’ll make a man) feathers on shoulder, matching hat, sparkly, worn over trousers/shirt

·         nurse: apron, Mrs Pankhurst: hat/black shoes, spies: long black coats, BIG moustaches

·         long grey coat for German, other long coats for English/French, ‘knee shoes’ Moranneville

Acting

·         funny, mime/props equal, moving

Acting – moments

·        

Lambs to the slaughter – shows meaningless loss of life and how the soldiers were forced to obey: non-naturalistic scene but naturalistic lines/emotions

o    Four soldiers crouched USL

o    Stand up, walk forwards (towards DSC) ‘baa’ing, jerk suddenly, shudder as they fall, stand up, walk…etc

o    Went into a sad French song so no contrast w/ happy song. Moving moment

o    Meeting actors at start = greater emotional attachment

·         

Drill Sergeant – shows lack of preparation, humourous

o    DrSe has swagger stick, feet together, chest out, archetypal; loud booming voice, nonsense words

o     [T.N./J.M./B.H.] scared, awkward, enthusiastic. In order DSC facing audience. DrSe at SR end facing SL

o    BH looked like corpsing (‘that’s not v. professional’) but contrived moment, laughing at their mistake – then he makes mistake

o    Attention, explain carry rifle, fix bayonets, lunge

o    V- effect, reminds us we are in theatre ‘broken the 4^th wall man!’ – jumps off stage

·         

Ballroom – shows class system w/in officers, officers uncaring about death

o    Tail coats/dress uniform [all but BH]

o    Held cross under intersection, held end of cloth out like hand = v-effect

o    Exaggerated, clipped, upper-class accents

o    Ladies voices + plant pot provided by BH (at keyboard playing dance music) over shoulder, falsetto voice for ladies

o    Waltz in a circle. Officer ‘dances out’ to DSC and holds out cross to side. Speaks to them as if private conversation, bows to cross

o    Swap partners = handing over crosses in a lilting movement, like the lady is walking

·         

Christmas in trench – shows all soldiers = same (even class doesn’t matter), heart warming

o    3 rostra, all upside down, CS [PM, BH, RH, JM] sit/lean (hunched w/cold - naturalistic).

o    PM w/ notebook, BH w/parcel, RH + JM w/ cards (rowdy, laughing, look out over audience)

o    TN = German USR unseen

o    Silent night sung in German, no music = moving: soldiers peer over trench wall, US, look at each other

o    Settle down and sing parody song = low class (don’t speak German, German soldier = better educated)

o    Boot = panic. They dive to floor and cover heads, one prods boot

o    Chuck boot back, w/ stuff, dive to floor as explosion – by flickering flash of light and SFX – surprises audience

o    Break tension ‘Christmas pudding that strong…’

o    See German soldier and freeze: German moves CS slow motion. Silhouetted by cold LX

o    British soldiers slow motion leave trench (climb over/walk around) to meet him = tension, nervousness

o    Hand shake = brief freeze frame w/ silhouette then: tension broken and they all relax (shoulders slump, hand push helmet back, etc), audience relaxes too, happy moment (Contrast w/ next scene?)

French, Lanrezac – humourous, shows stupidity of officers when making decisions

o    Moranneville [RH] on knee shoes SR. (blue coat)

o    British have sticks + big folded map, green jackets + flat officers hats

o    Lanrezac = hat and glasses

o    French and Lanrezac: Big gestures, talk loud and slow shows they think they are stupid

o    Fold out map and Moranneville’s indignant stand up = funny

·         

Woman singing

o    Feminine, exaggerated movements: emphasise he’s in drag (Brechtian) funny

o    Put on dress: “My mum would…proud” = humour

o    Theatre = more like a music hall, authentic (not Brechtian?) = ineffective?

o    Falsetto voice

·         

Other moments – washing line(flags), shooting (no wheelchair, hats), church, preset,

·         

References to later wars: The newspanel shows a series of pictures – wars from today (Mugabe, Afghanistan, etc) through time to WWI

Steven Berkoff Theatre Technique

Berkoff is a British practitioner whose career has spanned from 1965 to today.

His physical, exaggerated style of theatre is both popular and controversial, defying the norms of naturalistic theatre.

In his productions East and West, Berkoff used the Shakespearean style of language to create an complexity but pairing it with “low” cockney slang and swearing. Complex language that an audience has to focus means they rely on actions to understand the plot. This enhances Berkoff’s physical style.

Shakespearean language benefits physical movement as it provides images to work from. In his adaptation of Coriolanus, Berkoff uses mime to show the attack on the gates of Rome that is referred to in the script but not the play. Language does not have to be included in the performance to be shown. Berkoff said of Shakespeare that he wanted to “evoke and resignify”[1] the language of Shakespeare through movement and modern slang. 

Berkoff often left rejected ensemble acting in favour of one or two-man shows. Most notably, Berkoff performed in Decadence along side Joan Collins in a play that mocked the lives of the upper class.

In Decadence we see much of Berkoff’s technique manifested. His mime; exaggerated movement, facial expressions and accents; his use of monologue and dialogue; and intra-dialogic stage directions are all present. 

Berkoffian actors use techniques such as background movement, repetitive actions, and mime to explore further the ways in which Berkoff approaches exchanges between two characters.  Berkoff said that it was important “to see how I could bring mime together with the spoken word as its opposite partner, creating the form and structure of the piece”[2]. T

For monologues we can draw on the material from East and West in which the two main characters use monologue to tell a story. Berkoff ensured that although they were long, they were not devoid of action and they were very physical performances.

Berkoff’s approach to theatre is incredibly physical. Kenneth Reah titled an article, “Like smoking, naturalism can damage your health”[3] which sums up Berkoff’s approach to naturalistic theatre. His style is non-naturalistic, often focusing on movement rather that voice. According to him, the only purpose of a script is to help “minimalise and physicalise”[4] the story; stripping it down to its most basic components.

The theory of Total Theatre is key to Berkoff and stemmed from Artaud’s theatre style. Total Theatre maintains that every aspect of theatre must have purpose: every movement, that is choreographed; to each line, that is learned perfectly; to each lighting effect, that is used to convey a mood or message; to each sound effect, that enhances the audience’s experience; to each prop that has a use. The aim of Total Theatre is to create extreme moods to give the audience an overwhelming experience and to shock, amuse, scare, or amaze them. Berkoff particularly embraced this in his Kafka adaptations such as Metamorphosis, The Trial and In the Penal Colony. As a result of Total Theatre, performances are often minimalist, with bare stages and little language so that the focus remains on the physical movement and not on all the effects or the creation of a scene. This serves to detach the audience from the play and make them think about what was being said.

---

[1] Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self Performance (Robert Cross, 2004, Manchester University Press)

(page 139) note: not a direct quote, correct quote: “evoking and resignifying”

[2] http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-study-a4.html : ‘Creating the “Berkovian” Aesthetic’ by Craig Rosen, Ph.D. (2000)

[3] http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-study-a4.html : ‘Creating the “Berkovian” Aesthetic’ by Craig Rosen, Ph.D. (2000)

[4]Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self Performance (Robert Cross, 2004, Manchester University Press) (page 115) 

Hampshire: Notes on Hull Truck Theatre Company's DNA at the Salisbury Playhouse

Notes on Hull Truck Theatre Company's DNA at the Salisbury Playhouse

Open ended stage with shallow apron

Aims: show ‘the group’, individual vs. group, show society on small scale,

theme of responsibility

Style: Overtly naturalistic, transcript-like script

Genre: naturalistic piece with dark humour and tragic elements

Set-non naturalistic

Preset

·         Mat on floor: didn’t cover whole stage – covered in QR code

·         8 banks of 4 plastic blinds along the back = create cyclorama

o    Flaps serve as entrances and exits

·          Dim house lights, Fingerprint scan, DNA sequence projection, occasional grille silhouette. Darkness = sinister

·         Static noises: pattern-less, set the audience on edge

·         Lights snap off and music increases. Projection remains

Field

·         Minimalist: rectangle of bright green Astroturf. Sometimes longer (when Leah is leaving)

·          Lit from above but stretches US: rectangular shape matches shape of grass (close and cosy, enclosed, together)

·         Projection: clouds, sky, birds, moving. [identified scene = motif]

·         All grass pulled out together for final scene. Length = empty

·         Brightest scene/detached from other scenes: audience gets to know characters better

·         Grass progresses across stage in different scenes

Woods

·         Only time flaps used as entrance/exit

o    Makes space seem enclosed and separate/more immediate: gave woods depth

·         Projection: started long branch silhouettes but gradually became more tangled and complex

o    Mirrors plot: shadows of people moving through trees [shadowgraph] = creepy, unnerving, guilt

o    Shadows combined w/ flaps = danger, entrapment, atmosphere and tension

·         Flaps open when Adam is found: reveal all characters (except John Tate)

Street

·         1^st à Office windows = urban environment/faceless outside world

o    Low strip of light across stage

·         2^nd à (phone call) video footage of street w/ cars and houses. Diagonal and pans, like walking up a street on a slope; shaky, hand-held camera shot

o    Mobile phone = SFX

o    Trains, cars SFX, stereophonic: gives sense of movement (suggestion of outside world)

o    Two low strips of light across stage from side to side, 1 DS, 1 US = big shadows in opposite directions

·         3^rd à wall w/ graffiti = urban and contemporary

o    Urban/moral decay, danger but also acceptance of danger

o    Low strip of light across stage

Sound

·         Field at end: birdsong (Leah not there to fill silence OR Phil listened to Leah all along: birds = not listening to Richard)

·         Naturalistic sounds for Richard/Cathy scenes

·         Music during scene transitions and revealing of Adam (v. dramatic as blinds turn)

Lighting

·         Non naturalistic

·         Head height and thigh height side lights = dramatic shadows (guilt, hiding, two-faced characters [?])

·         Sculpture profile spots: two horizontal strips across stage

·         Field lit from above near audience = effect of slanted daylight

Costume

·         Cathy: (Bright colours shows personality and boldness/ confidence), more confident in heels than Lou

o    start: black bodycon skirt, white shirt w/ loose school tie, purple puffer jacket, bare legs, high tops

o    middle: yellow crop top jumper, purple top under, pink/red leopard print skirt, bare legs, high tops

o    end: shiny red bodycon dress w/ belt, red stilettos (status and power ‘dominatrix’)

Acting moments

·         John Tate: retelling of Adam’s death (the last scene with John Tate)

o    Interpreted as the most guilty: body language – tries to hide behind Danny (blocking alerts the audience)

o    Lowers head, lack of eye contact, arms crossed, chin lowered = defensive (CONTRAST with previous aggression)

o    SR compared to previous CS – shows he is wary of Phil

o    Stands up straight at end of retelling – faces the group ‘he’s dead’ = acceptance/reassurance – still in charge. Moves on

o    High pitched voice = nervous or angry

·         Phil: finds out about fat postman

o    Doesn’t visibly react – doesn’t want people to see his emotions

o    CS – shows dominance. Brian/Cathy SL, Leah USR

o    ‘This is a bad situation’ – calm, soft voice, puts a reassuring hand on Brian’s shoulder but then tightens grip: shows he won’t be stood up to

o    loses control and resorts to violence  - grabs Brian w/2 hands around face and back of his neck, held v. tightly = dominance physically + mentally ‘we’ll take you up to the grille…’ he is calculating, not fazed by violence, cold. Not governed by emotion

o    returns to normal while Brian’s posture closes: wraps arm around him, cries, feet together, knees bent

o    Tone of voice softens, pause, ‘we’ll kill you’ = draws attention to line, separates it from other lines. Delivery contrasts w/ meaning = more unnerving

o    Phil: manipulation w/ Br/Ca but physical aggression w/ Richard to establish dominance. Impresses John Tate w/ cleverness

·         Phil and Leah: Field

o    Phil doesn’t know how to respond to Leah so ignores her

o    End scene: tried to comfort her but awkward – side hug = uncomfy w/ contact, offers sweet. Never before so shows his feelings/her importance

o    Eating crisps/suicide: faf before eating crisps = OCD. Leah: ‘Phil, this is it…’ Phil opens crisps = anti-climax and shows he knows her well (she won’t do it)

o    Starbursts: v. specific actions. Unwrapped them and laid them out

o    Waffle – frustration at being interrupted. Frustration = actor? Effective?

o    Hat = Leah. Gone when she is gone. Phil SR, Leah SL, Phil cross legged, Leah hugs knees

·         Leah: talking w/ Phil

o    Talks fast –fill silence, eye movements – always looking at P, jiggling, wringing hands, fiddling w/ grass

o    Timing of lines: pauses make audience/Leah uncomfortable, not Phil. Reflects Leah’s insecurity ‘Are you happy?’ realises what she says, hurries to cover it up

o    Slow pace in these scenes despite Leah because P doesn’t respond

o    ‘Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil’ does it to get a response. Variation.

o    Tolerant of his silence. Rarely questions it. Often only looks to see if he reacts then goes back to talking

o    Bonobo scene: flops to ground after suicide on back, knees up. Half-sits to check his reaction. Flops back…goes into ‘sex, sex, sex,’ looks to see for reaction. Sits up and gives up

·         Brian: before and after

o    First woods scene: Pulled on by Richard, internalised body language (feet together, arms folded or wrapped around him, turns slowly, brings head up then down and starts to cry quietly)

o    Shaken by Phil = floppy to show lack of control

o    Insane: open posture – feet apart, arms swinging, chest out, face up, smiley expressions

o    Exaggerated movements, doesn’t maintain eye contact, ALWAYS moving, unnerving and unnatural, different, BIG CONTRAST

o    ‘lets hold hands’ grabs hands, energetic. ‘shut up’: sits cross legged, arms folded, finger to lips USR

o    Reverted to childhood

o    Plastic bag: obedient to Phil: stood still straight DSL

o    Ineffective: eat dirt (there was no dirt: hard to reconcile naturalistic acting w/ non naturalistic set here)

·         Cathy:

o    Returned from police station w/ Richard: stood DSL and spoke out to audience = proud of herself/excited, not fazed by situation

o    ‘shut up’ – frowns, turns and moves US, turned towards group = needs acceptance of group, cares what people think. Wants excitement not consequences

o    She steps forwards at mention of Adam’s death – voice grows louder, becomes defensive but excited, leans forward

o    Admitted about policeman: CS in centre of group/attention. Looked around at everyone = proud. But when she realised she’s wrong she immediately backed down – tried not to be noticed. Moved to edge of group + stayed quiet

o    Mentioned using violence to get Adam out of the hedge: matter of fact, defying a challenge

o    Relishes describing threatening to tear his eyes out – smiles, looks down or out, as if imagining it, likes violence

Phil and Leah
I did not take this picture