I was going through some old stuff I’d written, and came across this “Advice For the Director” that I’d written in 2002 on a discussion list for theatre about somebody tackling a commedia project for the first time with newbie actors as well. I think it sums up my take on acting in physical comedy and commedia dell’arte plays very […]
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Stanley Allan Sherman will teach another one of his Roving Classical Commedia University workshops Dec 26-30, 2016. Stanley is a well-known commedia mask maker and expert on commedia.  We’ve featured Stanley a number of times here on clownlink, and he wrote a great guest post about what makes a great commedia mask. He’s been teaching workshops like this one since 2001, […]
Read moreSweatshop: Made in Commedia Friday – Sunday, March 29-31, 7:30PM Circus Center, Theater FREE ADMISSION (Reserve Online) Rated PG-13. Commedia is a bawdy style of theater. Some material may not be suitable for children. LOCATION Circus Center 755 Frederick St SF CA 94117 Entry to this building and its bathroom facilities requires the use of stairs. There are no ramps or […]
Read moreGo Inspired is listing two Commedia Dell’arte workshops in December and June. New York City: Dec. 26-28, 2012 with Stanley Allen Sherman ($295 includes workshop only) You can find out more about this at Stanley’s website:  http://www.commediau.com/  Participants learn the physical style of Commedia dell’Arte as we believe it was “then†and how it may be used “now†as a creative […]
Read morePLAYING COMMEDIA A Series of Classes on the Comic Tradition for Teachers, Actors, Undertakers… facilitated by Clint Bolster and Ben Cornfoot from Lightwire Theatrical Productions When: 6.30-9pm, Thursdays March 17, 24, 31 & April 7. Where: Ithaca Church Hall, 80 Enoggera Tce Red Hill/Paddington (Boys’ Brigade Hall), AUSTRALIA! Cost: $85 for all four classes, $70 for students/unemployed (Earlybird discount price […]
Read moreI’ve already told you what official activities are going on in support of Worldwide CDA day, but I got to thinking that there’s got to be better ways to add some Commedia to your life than seeing a play. Here are 10 ways to add some commedia dell’arte to your life today. Please note these are not sanctioned by anyone […]
Read moreWhich commedia dell’arte character are you? This quiz was originally created to help publicize Music Theatre of Madison’s Summer 2011 production of The Glorious Ones. In case you don’t know, it’s a commedia dell’arte musical created by the composers of SEUSSICAL, RAGTIME and ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. MTM will present the Wisconsin premiere this summer. For more information about the […]
Read moreThanks to Christina Gelsone of Acrobuffos for suggesting this link! Eric Joisel was one of the premier origami artists in the world. A Frenchman, he was a sculptor and a self-taught origamist, who spent over 35 years trying to figure out how to make artwork out of 1 sheet of paper without cutting. He passed away in October 2010 at […]
Read more[I’ve asked a few great mask makers to submit a guest post entitled: What Makes A Great Commedia Mask? Their responses will appear here over the next few days. The images sprinkled throughout this page are from the author’s website, copyright by the author (as is the text), and used by permission. For permission to reprint this article or the […]
Read moreWorldwide Commedia Day is 4 days away– how are you going to celebrate? Faction Of Fools, one of the organizers, has a list of what’s going on- there’s something on nearly every continent! This is what they have so far (for the most updated list, visit the Faction of Fools website! ) I’m going to be in Chicago– so will […]
Read moreWhile doing research I came across this scholarly paper. Thought I’d offer it up today as a kind of a wrap up of my three posts on the Commedia Characters. (In case you’ve forgotten here they are) SERVANTS: https://www.clownlink.com/2011/02/commedia-characters-zanni-the-servants/ MASTERS: https://www.clownlink.com/2011/02/commedia-characters-il-vecchio-the-old-men/ LOVERS: https://www.clownlink.com/2011/02/commedia-characters-the-innamorati/ And here’s the scholarly article. It’s written by Dr. Scott McGehee, founding director of Accademia Dell’arte, which […]
Read more[I’ve asked a few great mask makers to submit a guest post entitled: What Makes A Great Commedia Mask? Their responses will appear here over the next few days. The images sprinkled throughout this page are from the author’s website, copyright by the author (as is the text), and used by permission. For permission to reprint this article or the […]
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The Zanni are the class of servants that are on the bottom of the food chain– they are porters, servants, and lower class citizens who serve their masters hare-brained schemes, bungle their own hare-brained schemes, and once in a long while make out like bandits, only to have their loot pulled away from them at the last second. Zanni is […]
Read moreCommedia Dell’Arte course. Traditional theatre to contemporary theatre March 28-April 8 and July 18-July 29, 2011 ILE organizes 2 week courses in theatre in Florence for actors to enhance their physical expression and learn the techniques of storytelling and improvisation as well as scene study analyzing the major authors together with the tradition of the Commedia Dell’Arte through Moliere, Shakespeare, […]
Read moreIn the cosmology of Commedia, there are three classes of characters:Â The Masters (those with money, often called Il Vecchio, the Old Men)Â The Servants (the zanni) who serve the Masters; and the Lovers (the Innamorati, who we introduced yesterday) There are a couple of characters who straddle the line one way or the other, and we’ll talk about them […]
Read moreIn honor of Valentine’s day, we examine the innamorati (the lovers) The Commedia lovers were the only unmasked characters in the show. They were the plot engines behind the stories. Typically their story was what drove the father characters to war ; the zanni characters to create all kinds of crazy plots and tricks, and when all else failed, their […]
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