Tag Archives: style

Servant - Commedia

THE characters OF COMMEDIA

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Watch the video above.

Take notes in your Journal about the OLD MEN (Pantaloon and Doctore (Dr).

MAKE SURE YOUR NOTES INCLUDE

  • character TRAITS [what animal or adjectives describe this character.]
  • physicality,
  • voice,
  • historical, cultural FACTS,
  • social (status) MASTER/SERVANT – what they do for a living.

Ignore Magnifico, the Witch, & Older Lovers. as these characters DO NOT APPEAR in ‘Servant’.

Servant - Commedia

Commedia – Language

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GRUMMALOT

Watch the following video and make some notes in your Journal.

  1. Grummalot (define it in your own words)
  2. Why is it a useful ‘tool’ for improvising and exploring a text?
  3. By watching the student actors, what skills do you think they show to successfully take part in a ‘grummalot’ conversation? [How does the listener know what is being said, how to respond, when to respond?]
  4. Why does it simulate the world of Commedia (think accents and languages)
  5. How could ‘grummalot’ be considered subversive during the time of Commedia?
Servant - Commedia

Images of Commedia performance

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Look at the following images of Commedia companies performing.

You will notice that they are performing OUTDOORS on make-shift stages. This is because they were TOURING companies who moved from city/town to city/town.

The Commedia STYLE of performing develops because of this

.THINK / PAIR / SHARE

  • What are the challenges of performing outdoors (in a busy market place?)
  • Why would Masks have helped the audience?
  • If the audience didn’t understand the language or dialect of the actors (because they were from a different region or even country *Commedia companies toured to other European countries) HOW does the performance STYLE have to compensate for this?