Commedia Dell’arte is a form of comedic theatre originating in Italy in the 16th century (Wilson, 2010). This form of theatre was first established as a street performance in the Italian Renaissance, providing 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.).” 20 Lazzi’s in a Hat successfully manipulated one-dimensional storyline, physical gags and stock characters in order to demonstrate a variety of human vices in order to heighten the hilarity. The human vices highlighted in this performance were arrogance, vanity and stupidity, …show more content…
However, one-dimensional storylines allow for improvisation and lacks structure, thus enabling positive reactions from the audience. Homunculus skilfully employed one-dimensional storyline to create humour and exemplify the human vices evident in the traditional stock characters. Through the use of movement and improvisation Homunculus successfully communicated the hilarity of human vices thus establishing dramatic meaning. An example of when improvisation was managed to heighten the vice of a character in order to create humour was through the character, Arlechinno. At this point, Arlecchino selected an audience member and physically manipulated the audience member’s limbs and legs into a position that resembled a statue. She then left the audience member on stage and told them to remain in that position. It was clear that the audience member was uncomfortable with being moved, however Arlechinno had no regard for her feelings and only focused on his enjoyment. This in turn, highlighted the selfishness of Arlechinno as he demonstrated no comprehension of the audience member’s emotions. Hence, successfully exemplifying the hilarity of the human vice as the audience roared with laughter each time Arlecchino continued to position the audience member in an awkward and obviously uncomfortable pose. An additional moment when this convention was utilised in …show more content…
Through the manipulation of exaggerated movement, the production successfully created a comical mood which assisted in the communication of arrogance, superiority and vanity. An example of this was when the Captain, a traditional stock character who stereotypically “…is full of swagger and braggadocio, but in reality he will do anything to avoid a fight (National Theatre Discover, 2011).” For example, in 20 Lazzi’s the Captain preformed a concetti where he spoke of how he saved the princess from the tower playing on the story of Rapunzel. He employed movement to thrust his pelvis as he described his journey to save the princess, this morphed into a slow motion scene manipulating the element of time. In this scene through the management of exaggeration in expression and gestures, the Captain was established as vain and self-absorbed, making his character’s vices clear to the audience. Through this he skilfully demonstrated the captain’s human vices of vanity and egotism, thus engaging the audience through the hilarity of the actors’ movements which in turn created dramatic meaning. An additional example of when 20 Lazzis successfully utilised stock characters to poke fun at the human vices to create humour was through the Doctor. This traditional stock character assists in the