1 COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE LESSON PLAN FOR 6TH GRADE 1 ...

COMMEDIA DELL’ARTELESSON PLAN FOR 6 TH GRADE1. Give teachers the vocabulary lessons at least 2 weeks prior to class visit.2. Written for two teaching artists/ actors/ narrators. Adapt as needed.3. Must have a real “slapstick” to use and show. Commedia Masks wouldbe helpful.Script:Both:Welcome Welcome Welcome!!!Primo (Suz):We are players from the Cresta Uccello Troupe.That’s Italian for Ridge Bird.Second (Ashley):The Cresta Uccello troupe is a Commedia Dell’artegroup from Italy. We have traveled through timeto be with you here today. We are from the 16 thcentury, more precisely, about 1545. At least that’sthe first “written” record of our troupe.change to fit themascots of yourschool.)(other character writes“troupe” on the board or)have flash cards made)(Actually, the first recordof a professional actingtroupe was at Padua.)Primo (Suz):Our time was called the Renaissance—I’m sure(Ashley: Showyou’ve heard and read about it. It was a great time Renaissance )full of new ideas and inventions. We were luckybecause the printing press had been invented.We could throw our ignorance aside and learnabout all kinds of things.Second (Ashley):--Especially plays by Shakespeare and Moliere.(Suz: show Moliere)They must have seen a commedia touring troupe likeours because Shakespeare wrote us into his play, “Hamlet,”and Moliere copied our style for some of his Frenchplays. Next spring you can see one of Moliere’s plays,The Miser, presented by your local troupe, The Playmakers.Primo (Suz):Commedia Dell’arte means, literally, “artistic(Ashley: Commedia1

comedy” “Dell”- “of the”---- ‘arte”- skilled artistsand craftsman who acted with truth & sincerityDell’Arte)Second (Ashley):In other words—“professional actors”Primo (Suz):Our kind of comedy is now called “slapstick”because some of our characters used a realwooden paddle. It doesn’t hurt but makes aloud noise and we pretend it hurts.Second (Ashley):But our kind of comedy really goes back manyyears…even before our time in the 16 th century—to Greek theatre in the 4 th century BCE,(before the common era-- you may call it BC) …where at least one very famous Greek poet,Aristophanes, wrote comedies with lots of satire andirony. He pariodied, or “mocked” famous people.(slapstick: slap!)(Suz: Aristophanes,satire, irony,parody)Primo (Suz):Hey, you zanni…it goes back before then – to 800(Ashley “Zanni”BCE when a man named Susarion formed a band “troop” vs. “troupe” -of comedians in Icaria (look it up on a map) andIcaria, vagabondstrooped around Greece with his chariot-load ofvagabonds who performed comedies with music.Second (Ashley):Maybe that was the first “musical comedy?”Primo (Suz):And, it was in Icaria, a few hundred years laterthat a man called Thespis stepped out ofthe Greek Chorus and, some say, became the first“actor.”(Ashley: Thespis)Second (Ashley):Do you remember what your local thespian group,The Playmakers, told you a couple of years ago aboutthe purpose for which mankind has used theatre?to entertain and give pleasure to each otherto influence eventsto educate their childrento glorify or give praise2

…and even your pictures on that big screen, movies, especiallythat one called “Pirates of the Caribbean!”Second (Ashley):The object of our humor may be someonewhose behavior we don’t like, or that we are mad at…but we turn that anger into something absurd.(Suz: Absurd)Primo (Suz):Sort of like your people who perform…what do you call it?RAP!?Second (Ashley):We take credit for creating –on stage, so to speak— (Suz: Improvisation)a technique called Improvisation. This doesn’t meanthat we make it all up on stage…there are rules even in Improv.Primo (Suz):Yes, we observe people and their actions and behaviorsall the time; we see jealousy, greed, anger, desire, sloth,misery, etc.Second (Ashley):…and then we make up bits and pieces of dialogueor stage business from what we see….we test outways to “mimic” human behavior.(Suz: Dialogue)(Mimic/Mime)Primo (Suz):And we practice and rehearse all the time….that’ s partof being a professional at anything…you have to work atyour skills and hone your talents.Second (Ashley):We work from a simple sketch of an idea for a play.It’s called a “scenario.” It’s not a complete script,more like an outline of scenes. It goes like this.(Suz: Scenario)EXERCISE WITH STUDENTS:Primo (Suz):(Get a couple of names of kids…two boys, one girl)“X (boy) enlists Y (boy) to help get a date with Z (the girl),who doesn’t know X exists. Y gives him a lot of badadvice about his clothes and how he should act.”Second (Ashley);4

( Get three more boys’ names plus two girls’ names)“X has stolen some money from Y. When Y realized hismoney is gone, he asked A & B (girls) to fetch Z for advice.When Z arrives, he gives Y several medical diagnoses.Primo (Suz):Then we add the bits & pieces of “improv” to it aswe perform it. We may throw in techniques such as“mime,” which we mentioned, music, “acrobatics,”jokes and “physical comedy” such as falls, and….(Ashley:Mime, acrobatics)(one actor bends over and the other onekicks him in the rear,or some other illustrationof physical comedy)These bits are called “lazzi.”(Lazzi)(Maybe do “the fly” as another illustration Oneactors reads a passage such as one from “Orangesin which the doctor talks, the other seems to be tryingto catch a fly that’s bothering him, paying no attentionto the doctor When he catches it, he tears off a wingand eats it…one wing at a time, like chicken. Theneats the rest.)Ashley reads as Dottore: “It is a foregone conclusionthat cranial disturbances are caused by mellifluouscoagulation of the yellow bile which causes inter-cerebellarconflagration.”(Suz: fly)Second (Ashley):You may have seen “lazzi” of the physical comedy typein old “Three Stooges” movies”(Or maybe something that Johnny Depp does in aPirates’ movie.)Primo (Suz):We also love mellow love scenes, but sometimesour fellow actors create havoc in the middle ofthem.Second (Ashley):Like the Greeks before us, we use masks for some of ourcharacters. But unlike the Greeks, the masks illustratea “type” of character, not a particular person.The “masks” are recognized by the audience upon theentrance of the character wearing it. It’s almost as if5

the character is “born” through the “mask.”Primo (Suz):In other words, our entertainments are made up of (stock )“stock characters”--- types of people we all know:Fathers, servants, military people, police, old men, fools,politicians, cowards, fakes, greedy people, professionaltypes such as teachers and doctors, and of course, lovers.The world must have romance, if only to make fun of !Second (Ashley):And… unlike the actors in those great plays ofShakespeare and Moliere, we allow women to perform.We keep their roles “polite” however…we’ll tell you moreabout that in a minute.Primo (Suz):Each character has a particular stance, walk, & postureSecond (Ashley):It’s time to show them some!Primo (Suz):Okay…this week (day) you will see a play called “The Love (Carol Gozzi)for Three Oranges.” It is a very old play by an Italiannamed Carlo Gozzi. It has been adapted by many differentpeople throughout the centuries for many different audiences,some young, some adult.Second (Ashley);It was even made into an Opera, with music by the famouscomposer, Prokofiev.In our play, Gozzi combines traditional Commedia “stock characters” withfairy tale characters, such as Kings, princes, princesses, witches, etc.Let’s begin with the traditional commedia characters.that you will see in the play. The most famous:Arlecchino or Harlequin, a clever, but not verysmart servant. A mixture of ignorance, naivite,wit, stupidity, and grace! Physically fast,mentally slow.(Arlecchino/Harlequin(While one person describes the character, the otherperforms the walks, stances, postures)Primo (Suz):BART SIMPSON!6

Actors have interpreted this character as variousanimals:a Cata Foxa monkey or a goat(Second (Ashley) acts outhold up mask)(P. perform Pas DeChats)(P.perform extendedwalks--develope)(sideways walk, &prance)He is flexible and agile, his knees are bent overturned out toes. He can do falls, acrobatics,and turns.He carries a slapstick at all times.And he makes a lot of mistakes, gets scared easily.He is, essentially, a jester(slap!)(jester)His costume is made of colorful patches or triangles,the patches probably remnants of richer costumes.Second (Ashley):In “The Love For Three Oranges” my name is: Truffaldino.Another stock character is “Il Dottore.”He represents the proud university professorsespecially those who like to make normal peoplefeel stupid.He always dresses in black, is well groomed,rich looking, and talks and talks, a river ofuseless scientific words and terms that end upsaying nothing.(Suz: Il Dottore)(Suz: mask)(Perhaps anotherpassage from play)Suz read: “A very serious case.A state of hypochrondria that I judge to be incurable.”His ancesters were those who hawked quackmedicines to attract customers, seen in old-timewesterns & melodramas,He is often a bachelor, a widower, or a father.He likes to have a lot of space around him.He would love to lead an academic life, but,7

alas, that world won’t have him, because he’snever cured anyone.His stance & posture is stiff, proud…He walks sporadically..like a small bird or aroach caught in the light.(Suz: show)PRINCIPAL SKINNER!Primo (Suz):In the play this week I am simply “Il Dottore.”Now to the character that illustrates all the greedy,miserly people—Pantalone. He’s a merchant, rich,holds a high social status, but also naïve. He likesthe beautiful girls, but will never get one because, notonly is he usually old & ugly, but he really thinks theyjust want his money. If fact, he thinks everyone isout to get his money, so he keeps it in a bag on hisbelt and plays with it to make sure it hasn’t been stolen.(Ashley: Pantalone)He usually has lots of servants…in the upcoming play,he calls on the servant, Truffaldino, to solve a problem.He has an old man’s stoop, leaning forward, nose inthe air, often with one hand behind his back, under acape or cloak.He walks with feet together, sometimes like a chickensometimes like a stork, often like a crab.Second (Ashley):THINK MR. BURNS ON THE SIMPSONS.In the play, I walk in a quick shuffling manner.___________Prima: (Suz)The last of the traditional characters you will see arethe Lovers:The lovers never wear masks, in fact, the traditionalwomen’s characters in Commedia, whether a lover ora servant, don’t wear masks.The lovers are educated, refined, “polite”; they alwayshave the correct phrase to say.Mostly they are in love with being in love..so they fall in8

love very quickly…or at least think they are in love.Love at first sight happens frequently for Commedialovers.They tend to float as if they aren’t connected to the earthbut if they walk they do so in a courtly manner, feet inballet positions.In “Oranges”… their names are Prince Targalia and PrincessNinetta.Second (Ashley):There are also two Zanni. They are servants(our word, Zani)like Truffaldino. One is sort of smart, the other kind ofdumb and clumsy…yet acrobatic.Maybe HOMER SIMPSON TYPES.In the play you willsee, their primary role is to change the location of the actionor interrupt the action. Not the set, because there isn’t muchof one. Remember Commedia was performed in the streetsand town squares. There are a couple of set pieces..a chairand a bench. But the Zanni have signs to let us know wherethe actors are…In the throne room, the forest, the desert, etc.The other characters in ”Oranges” are non-commedia ones:King Silvio, Princess Clarissa, Princess Ninetta, the witch Creontaand her grotesque groupies. And, there is another one that mightneed a bit of explaining. Fata Morgana!Primo (Suz):A fata morgana is a geological term for a mirage…as in the desert.But it is also the Italian name for Morgan Le Fey, the sorceress of medievallegends, the supposed sister of King Arthur. In Gozzi’s play, she becomesa combination…a floating valley girl, who can cast spells,most of which don’t work. She is a bumbling witch who tendsto trip over her own feet., unlike the wicked Creonta.Elements of Commedia have been passed down in the forms of circus clowns, British musichalls and their Christmas pantomimes, American Vaudeville, Charlie Chaplin movies,Punch & Judy Shows, and even ballet.There are paintings by many famous painters: one was Picasso.The play you will see is performed by 7 th & 8 th grade students in speech & drama.We will be back on Friday to get your opinions of the play, the way it was performed,and what you liked or didn’t like about it. Remember, it takes much practice to be able toperform commedia comedy. The students have only had a few hours. But, we hope you will9

get a glimpse of the elements of commedia, and also be able to compare the techniques usedin the play to TV & movie comedies that you have seen.You may wonder why you’re being presented with a children’s fairy tale, butwe ask you to watch for the Commedia characters, especially, because Commedia ismore about characters than plots…and actions that are familiar to people all over the globe.Your main objective is to pick out the Commedia characters, the lazzi, and other sillinessfrom within the story. We hope, after you see it, you will want to do more research onCommedia Dell’Arte.10