Commedia Character Shorts- Smeraldina (Chapter 6)

Smeraldina!

Truffaldino (Arlecchino) has met his match in this high-spirited female servant (Servetta)! She occupies a special place among the Commedia characters, being one of the highest-ranking of them all.  Often the only functional intellect on the stage, Smeraldina assists her mistress (the innamorata) to gain the affections of her lover, often while simultaneously managing the whereabouts and moods of the innamorato AND managing the advances of her employer, Pantalone. She may be a flirtatious and impudent character, indeed a soubrette, but unlike any of the other servants, she never loses her keen judgment. Smeraldina is what the Innamorata is not: free, insolent, not slave of love bonds.  She is sometimes brilliant, vain always, a chatter-bug and gossiper, and always prone to intrigue at somebody else's expenses.

Carlo Goldoni uses the Colombina character quite a bit in his plays, clearly enjoying her simply wisdom and non-nonsense approach to life, truth and love. (She also is lucky to marry Truffaldino at the end of Servant of Two Masters!)  Although Columbina became the most widely-used name for this Servetta, other names under which the same character is played in Commedia performances include: Franceschina, Smeraldina, Columbina, Mirandolina, Spinetta, Ricciolina, Corallina, and sometimes in disguise as Arlecchinetta (Harlequina).

• Smeraldina's costume is that of a high ranking servant.  As she sometimes appears as a sort of Harlequin in female clothes, she may be costumed in a dress that is a patched duplicate of Harlequin's.  She has also been known to wear heavy makeup around her eyes and carry a tambourine which she could use to fend off the amorous advances of Pantalone.
• Smeraldina is most usually without a mask, even though all other servants are masked.
• Smeraldina's light foot work matches that of the servants, with her weight shifting quickly and deftly between her two feet.  She also usually has her hands on her hips, with wrists bent an fingers pointing behind her.  They look almost like little wings, and aid her in her flirtatious ways.

Here is the delightful Vanessa Hughes, who plays Smeraldina in our production of "Servant of Two Masters".



As of this posting, only two performances of Servant of Two Masters remain, and only a handful of tickets are left.  Be sure to see this amazing production before its gone for good!

Commedia Character Shorts- Il Dottore (Chapter 4)

Il Dottore!

Il Dottore is not a physician, he just has a university degree.  To hear him tell it, he probably has several of them. He and Pantalone function together as the old men trying to marry off their children and generally making a mess of it. Pantalone and Il Dottore are the alter ego of each other, Pantalone being the decadent wealthy merchant, and Il Dottore being the decadent erudite. 

They alternate between being each other's best friend and worst enemy and are often the victims of each other's biased advice, but their schemes and machinations always seem to end up in much the same fashion: backfiring on them.  Whereas Pantalone can always take solace in his money, Il Dottore is happy to wax philosophical and will always be ready with a high-sounding misquotation or an elegant malapropism to give closure to yet another misadventure.

The Doctor is a local, disruptive busybody who doesn't listen to anyone else from any of the fields that he claims to know about, which is many (medicine, law, literature, etc.). There is not a subject that he doesn't know everything about.  He is traditionally portrayed as having been educated either in Bologna (he is full of bologna!) which since the Renaissance had one of two of the most prestigious universities of Italy and Europe. He is often extremely rich, generally with "old" money, though the needs of the scenario might have things otherwise. He is extremely pompous, as quick-tempered as Pantalone, and loves the sound of his own voice, spouting nonsensical Latin and Greek in phrases that can go on, and on, and on, and on and onandonandonandonandon.......

• His mask is unique in that it is the only mask in commedia dell'arte to cover only the forehead and nose. It is sometimes black, or else flesh-toned with a red nose. He also reddens his cheeks.
• His costume usually includes a large stomach pad so he looks rather fat (fat = rich), always dresses in black, is well groomed, rich looking.
• Dottore's movement is often in a figure 8 pattern, with his weight back on his heels and his belly forward.  His gestures are as expansive as his knowledge appears to be.

Joel Thompson plays the pompous and hilariously long-winded Dottore in our Servant of Two Masters.



Get your tickets to Servant of Two Masters today, and laugh with us soon! Want to see what the critics have to say?   Click on our review round up here.
Piccolo Box Office: 847-424-0089 or online at www.piccolotheatre.com 

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!

The Music of Piccolo's Servant of Two Masters

From the very first meeting I had with Director John Szostek, it was clear that we wanted to use the music in Servant of Two Masters as a nod to some of the oldest Commedia dell'Arte musical traditions.  Music is as deeply rooted in this tradition as the masks worn by the actors.  But it was equally important not take ourselves too seriously in the process.

The show opens with a rousing version of "Two Fools Went to Venezia", which is based on an old Italian folk song about some gentlemen who go out to show themselves a good time, but end up just getting drunk and sick. See if you catch the name of one of the 'gentlemen'.... as he will reappear later in the show.

The lovers (with the exception of Silvio) all sing songs made famous by Virginia Andreini, one of the most famous prima donna innamorata of Commedia's golden age, generally accepted as the late 1500s-mid 1600s. (This was also simultaneously the beginning of operatic history.)

Innamorati

Clarice sings "Care gioie che le noie" in a setting by Claudio Saracini (Seconde Musiche, 1620). The dark and romantic tone of the lyrics are particularly suited to the scene, as Clarice is just about to kill herself in response to being jilted by her lover, Silvio.

Dear joys that banish the suffering of sighs, that pleasure I have in my breast those scintillating eyes reveal.  Now that vain dream with is false and fair company doesn't feign, doesn't advance that hand with so sweetly wounds my breast.

Unfortunately for Clarice, not only is the sword too large to gracefully pierce her breast, but I set this song to be played by an accordion in the style of a folk tune.  A wink to the audience that we are not to take her too seriously, in spite of her despair.  

Guilio Caccini

Beatrice and Florindo both sing "Tu ch'hai la penne", which is the theme of  their romantic journey through the play. Giulio Caccini composed this piece in 1614 for Lo schiavetto, a comedy made very famous by Andreini.  Andreini sang this piece at the end of that production (accompanying herself on the lute), disguised as a man, and in despair of her character's plight.  It seemed so fitting for Beatrice and Florindo, as they are both in danger, Beatrice in man's dress, and thinking each other dead.

You, Love, who have wings and know how to spread them in flight, ah! fly quickly to where my heart is: and if you do not know the way, follow my sighs.

This is one of the only times in the play that we are allowed to take seriously, as Beatrice and Florindo are the "straight" or "dark" lovers, meaning that their plight carries the plot and gives the play the weight it needs to carry the rest of the comedy.

But lest we take ourselves too seriously and get too buried in all of this beautiful tradition, Truffaldino has a love song too. He must impress the delightful Smeraldina somehow....and he does that with a ridiculous rendition of Louis Prima's "Angelina", played on his mandolin.  Embraced by fans as the Italian-American from New Orleans, his lively love song fits right in to our score.

We bookend the show with another Italian folk song, Notter de Berghem, in honor of Truffaldino, our comedic servant who reminds the audience several times how proud he is to be from Bergamo, a small town 230km from Venice.

-Denita Linnertz, Music Director, Servant of Two Masters

Commedia Character Shorts are here! (Chapter 1)

Arlecchino!

Arlecchino is always a Commedia favorite.  Traditionally he is a servant (zanni) to Pantalone, Capitano, or Dottore, and is generally accepted as the most intelligent of the zanni characters.  He tries to trick his masters, but usually fails.   In Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters his name has been changed to Truffaldino (roughly, "Little Trickster") and much of the action exists because he tries to outwith everyone and serve two masters at the same time. Food holds amazing power over all of the zanni, but particularly this chap, so you can easily understand that two masters means twice the pay which means....twice the food!  He is also very much in love with Smeraldina, one of the other zanni in the play.  Will he win her over AND get permission to marry her AND serve two masters?  You'll have to see Truffaldino live and in action!

Arlecchino, PiccoloTeatro di Milano

• Arlecchino's costume is a rather tight jacket and pants, with bright multi-colored patches, usually in diamond shapes.  They can be in a symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern. 
• Arlecchino wears a belt and a slapstick.  (This is where "slapstick comedy," comes from).  A slapstick is made out of two thin strips of wood separated at the handle by a half an inch or so.  When the slapstick hits an object, the two strips of wood slap against each other  to make a loud sound, without hurting the person being hit. 
• Arlecchino's mask consists of a black half-mask and a black chin-piece. The mask's forehead is strongly lined with wrinkles, accentuating a slightly quizzical arch to the eye brows. The eye holes are arranged in such away as to convey and expression of astonishment, sensuality and craftiness. There is traditionally a tumor like growth billowing out under one eye along with a wart. The eyebrows and beard are bushy consisting of stiff bristles. This ensemble of characteristics portrays something savage and fiendish, with cat like qualities. The mask is such that it opens many possibilities to character and action.The nose is not very big, since he is very intelligent.
• Arlecchino is always moving, in acrobatic and agile ways.  Therefore, the actor who plays him should be very flexible.  His knees are always bent, as if he could spring up at any minute into a leap or acrobatic move.  Like Zanni, Arlecchino is led by his nose--his head follows an object, and then his body goes after it.

Here's more from the amazing Omen Sade, who plays Truffaldino in our production.

Check back here regularly over the next few weeks and we'll guide you through the basics of traditional Commedia characters and give you an insider's look at our production of Servant of Two Masters.  Want more information on Commedia?  Visit the Piccolo Theatre Website or email info@piccolotheatre.com with specific questions.

Carlo Goldoni and Commedia dell'Arte

Carlo Goldoni

Carlo Goldoni's famous Servant of Two Masters was written in 1743 near the end of Commedia's golden age. This masterpiece obviously owes its success to the multitude of traditional and beloved Commedia elements he utilized: characters, situations, masks, etc., but the manner in how Servant is performed is slightly different than what was considered "Commedia" at the time in 1743.

Goldoni had conceived a new type of theatre, a new way of acting, and a new way of perceiving the role of the playwright. Up until this point, Commedia actors were used to creating plays themselves using a great deal of improvisation. The subject was chosen (usually love intrigues, clever ways of getting money and outsmarting simpletons), the characters conceived and named, their relations to one another determined, and the situations clearly outlined, all beforehand. The material was then divided into scenes and lazzi, and the situations were made clear. When this general outline was deemed satisfactory, the actors were then given the freedom to heighten, vary, and embellish their parts as their genius might suggest. But with the Servant of Two Masters script, Goldoni took the reins and wrote everything down in a script. Earth shaking? It was in at the time in Italy.

So what does that mean for Piccolo's performance of the piece? Will this "scripted" play make us LAUGH??? What about the hilarious, creative brand of Piccolo-style improvisation and general goofiness? Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!

Have no fear! Artistic Director John Szostek has already thought this through.

"There is a trap in attempting to present The Servant of Two Masters and that is how to allow the comic instincts of skilled actors to overcome a tendency to be a servant to the text. It has been said that commedia is the riskiest form of comedy. True, but worth the risk. When the moment of inspired improvisation happens it is like a lightning strike and time seems to be in suspension while a wonder takes place. Fortunately Goldoni’s text is so perfectly balanced and adhering to pure form that it allows us to perform under, through, over and behind the text." -John Szostek

See the show yourself (opens February 25!) and the Piccolo Ensemble will treat you to a Commedia experience that will make you wonder why this conversation about Goldoni's script seemed like such a big deal.

For some more info on Goldoni, you may enjoy this video fro our namesake and inspiration, Piccolo Teatro di Milano (particularly the section right around the 4:00 mark). English speakers, don't fear, the narrator speaks your language. Plus there is also some great material on everyone's favorite character, Arlecchino. Enjoy!

Arlecchino servitore di due padroni | Giorgio Strehler e Ferruccio Soleri

Thanks to our dramaturg, Claudia Zanna for her research and Artistic Director John Szostek for his quote!

The Servant of Two Masters

"Most people are looking for a job...he has TWO!"

The cast of Piccolo Theatre's Servant of Two Masters has been in rehearsal for a little over a week now, and we thought you might like to meet the cast and crew of our upcoming Commedia production! Check out this great footage from our very first rehearsal last week.



Who is this "Federigo Rasponi of Turin", and why is everyone so interested in him, particularly since reports are that he was recently killed in a duel? Stay tuned....or better yet, buy a ticket to the show!

Servant of Two Masters

By Carlo Goldoni

Translated by Tom Simpson

Directed by John Szostek

Previews: Feb 18-20, 2011

Opening: Feb 25 – April 9, 2011

Days & Times: Fri at 8pm, Sat at 8pm, Sun at 3pm

Location: Evanston Arts Depot, 600 Main St., Evanston

Tickets: $25 for Adults, $20 for Seniors, $15 for Students, call for group rates.

Call for reservations 847-424-0089 or order online www.piccolotheatre.com

We have so much more to share about this show- about our brand new masks (made by our friend Antonio Fava), the music we've chosen, the crazy characters, the history of the show as it relates to the art of Commedia AND the role it plays in Piccolo's beginnings. You're going to love it! Stay tuned for more sneak peaks into the rehearsal process.

Oh, and did I mention that we have new ensemble members!! A belly laugh and hearty congratulations to costume designer Joshua D. Allard, lighting designer Eric Branson, and actors Nicole Keating, Jessica Puller, Vic May, Andrew Roberts, and Laura "Berner" Taylor.

Thanks to our good friend Rachel for the video! You'll be seeing a lot more work from her in upcoming blog posts.