Commedia Character Shorts- Innamorati (Chapter 3)

Innamorati!

The Innamorati, or Lovers, are delightful characters!  They create situations of desperation, gossip, envy, and are always stumbling upon obstacles that keeps them apart from their lover...all excellent material around which action can be developed for all of the other characters. Being separated from their lover (could there be anything worse?) gives them reason to strongly lament and moan their state, although when finally face to face, they are at a complete loss for words. Or they speak in an elegantly  heightened speech of the upper class, close to poetry and sonnet. In dire situations, they have the habit of enlisting the help of a servant to act as a medium between the two of them, which of course only opens the door for confusion and hijinks caused by their hapless servants. Very selfish and self-centered, the Lovers are in their own worlds in which they themselves are the most important subjects. Along with loving themselves, they are in love with the very idea of love and what it pertains to. They are vain, thoughtless, change emotions on a whim, and could be cruel and callous while professing the most profound of loves. Attractive and elegant, they can still be as comic and as flawed as any of the other characters.

There can be two sets of lovers in a Commedia dell'Arte play/scenario.  The First Lovers, usually more intelligent and serious, and the Second Lovers, usually flighty and slightly silly.

The First Lovers (sometimes called the straight lovers) in Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters are Beatrice and Florindo. They are cultured, educated, and seem to have a much broader life experience than the Second Lovers.  Their attraction and love for each other is based on the feeling that they are true equals both in character, social status, and intelligence, and as a team they would be quite a force to be reckoned with. Even though the First Lovers are usually the most grounded characters on stage, they are still prone to bouts of deep melancholy, selfishly pursuing their needs with little heed to anyone else, and taking their frustrations out on servants.  Their manner of dress and movement is stylized (see 'posture' below).

The Second Lovers in Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters, are Clarice and Silvio.  They appear quite young and their love for each other is similarly immature in nature.  While still professed as true love, theirs is rooted in image, pretense and pure fluffy romance (think a sappy romance novel). When things are not going their way, they throw tantrums, pout, hurl insults, cry and whine. Their manner of dress and movement is highly stylized (more so than the First Lovers), making Silvio is quite a fop and Clarice a brilliant coquette. 

• The Lovers elegant costumes were always in the latest fashion, (often to styled to excess) and usually of the same color, just in case another couple of Lovers was in the play too. This only reaffirms how much they were made for each other.  Just like couples who wear matching outfits today!
• The Lovers are the only Commedia characters who are not masked. (With the occasional exception of the Smeraldina/Columbina character.)
• The posture that the Lovers take on is that of strong pride. Their chests are expanded and thrust out so that the heart essentially leads them, sometimes seeming to literally pull them across the stage. They balletically point their toes while standing, and when moving, take light, quick steps, giving them a floating appearance.  Overall, they lack contact with the ground and seem to float rather than take steps. Their hand movements and gestures are very grand, expansive and expressive.

Actors Denita Linnertz and Tommy Venuti play the heroic and tragically separated Beatrice and Florindo in Servant of Two Masters.




Actors Deborah Craft and Glenn Proud (married to each other in their off-stage lives) are playing the passionate and hilarious Clarice and Silvio.




Opening weekend was a raving success for Servant of Two Masters!  The reviews are rolling in, and the critics LOVE what they are seeing. We want to have you rolling in our aisles. Visit the Piccolo Theatre Website for information on how to get your tickets today.

Check back soon for links to the great reviews and the next installment of Commedia Character Shorts!