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Commedia Plays
By Barry Grantham
Nick Hern Books £12 99
272 pages
Dateline: 23rd September, 2007
This book might not be quite what one would expect from the title.
Rather than a dry academic treatise on a historical art form that is
rarely seen nowadays, it is a light, very entertaining tome that contains
eight different examples of the genre.
These stretch from a few minutes in length with not a single word to
the final one, The Duchess Mislaid, timed by Mr Grantham at 95
minutes plus interval and featuring a cast two dozen strong.
The good thing about Commedia plays is that they are exceptionally
funny, even when read or described on the page. This makes Mr Grantham's
book easy reading and ensures that one learns much without realising
it.
Commedia dell' Arte as an art form started in Italy the best part of
half a millennium ago and, using familiar characters plus a great deal
of ad-libbing, became one of the most popular art forms of its time.
It also acted as a progenitor for pantomime in the UK, clowning and
circus skills around the world and forms the basis for much contemporary
comedy and even Punch and Judy.
Reading this book, one becomes familiar with fixed points and personalities
such as Harlequin and Columbine; the lovers; the absurd rich old miser,
Pantaloon; and a white faced Pierrot.
The formula is generally pretty simple. There is a rich man, a daughter
whom he wishes to marry to money, a seemingly impecunious suitor whom
she loves and a couple of servants who love each other and delight in
helping the mistress of the house against the master. Inevitably, after
great deal of slapstick there will be a happy ending.
The set is topped off by The Duchess Mislaid, a full length
play based on sources first published in 1611. This draws together the
themes, characters and techniques of the short pieces.
In addition to the scripts, which introduce us to the characters and
form of the Commedia, Mr Grantham provides a full list of 67 lazzi.
These include such gems as The Misdirected Embrace, Extra
Limbs and Dismemberment!. They are a kind of improviser's
armoury that every performer needs to know, both to convey information
and to create comedy on the hoof. This section is a bit like a comedian's
joke book, from which he or she will select an evening's material as
they perform. Many will be familiar to readers from their use on film
by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.
Grantham cross-refers between the two parts of the book so that one
can see how the lazzi might be used in practice or alternatively
how plays or sketches can be built around them.
Commedia Plays will prove a useful working manual for the practitioner
or teacher, with its large number of contemporary illustrations that
show what performances must have been like in the early days
It will also prove to be great fun for the more general reader, who
can both obtain an understanding of this classic art form and laugh
at comedy that has influenced so much of what we see on stage and screen
today.
Philip Fisher
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