Drama: Commedia Dell'Arte

A unique collection of performance pieces and improvisation exercises in the Commedia style, a companion volume to the author's best-selling Playing Commedia. Commedia Plays offers eight original short plays from across the different periods and styles of Commedia dell'Arte - suitable for performance on stage as well as classroom and workshop study. Also included is a collection of Lazzi, the pieces of 'business' that form the basis of Commedia's comic action, ranging from the 'Double Takes' to 'The Unwanted Proposal'.

Translated to English from its original Venetian dialect by John D. Mitchel, The Green Bird is a fairy tale written by the 18th century Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi. An evil queen, a dim king, a princess and a mysterious green bird inhabit the world of Carlo Gozzi's theatrical fantasy. It is the story of a dysfunctional royal family where the evil mother in-law, Tartagliona buries her daughter in-law, the Queen, under the royal toilets. First performed in 18th century Venice, The Green Bird is often revived, charming contemporary audiences with its playful take on familiar fairy tale forms and wowing them with its sheer theatrical imagination. This book is complete with stage directions.

There has been an enormous revival of interest in Commedia dell'arte. And it remians a central part of many drama school courses. In Commedia dell'arte in the Twentieth Century John Rublin first examines the orgins of this vital theatrical form and charts its recent revival through the work of companies like Tag, Theatre de Complicite and the influential methods of Jacques Lecoq. The second part of the book provides a unique practical guide for would-be practitioners: demonstrating how to approach the roles of Zanni, Arlecchion, Brighella, Pantalone, Dottore, and the Lovers in terms of movement, mask-work and voice. As well as offering a range of lazzi or comic business, improvisation exercises, sample monologues,and dialogues. No other book so clearly outlines the specific culture of Commedia or provides such a practical guide to its techniques.

A companion to John Rudlin's Commedia dell'Arte: A Handbook for Actors, this book covers both the history and professional practice of commedia dell'arte companies from 1568 to the present day. For both the beginner and the professional, it contains historical and contemporary company case histories, details on company organisation, and tips on practical stagecraft. This book enables the reader to understand how successful commedia dell'arte companies function, and how we can learn from past and current practice to create a lively and dynamic form of theatre. Includes tips on: * writing a scenario * mask-making * building a stage * designing a backdrop * costume * music. _

Illustrated history of the beginnings, growth and influence of the commedia dell' arte. Describes improvisations, staging, marks, scenarios, acting troupes, and origins.

Based on a scenario by Carlo Gozzi and inspired by his original project, The Love of Three Oranges is a wild raucous slapstick comedy. A comedy in three acts. Prince Tartaglia's life is filled with misery until an evil witch and her equally evil henchmen concoct a plan to kill him by sending him on a quest for three giant oranges. This quest, however, soon proves more fruitful than he could have imagined. Once he leaves the sheltered world of the castle he finds a friend in a clown, love in an orange, and most of all laughter in everything he meets. Throw in witches, wizards, princesses, an effeminate unionized devil, a few ferocious inanimate objects, melodramatic monarchs and a wild narrator who isn't sure how far removed from the story he is and what you have in the end is a flurry of comedy, parody, and quality.