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Teachers Notes for Cafe Floriani Performance Profile Form: Comedy Style: Commedia dell'Arte - mask theatre Contexts: Theatre for Young People, Life in 16th century Italy, competition in the marketplace, social commentary. Preparing the audience As Cafe Floriani is a Commedia del arte production, it breaks conventions through improvisation, entering audience space and encouraging audience participation. Encourage students to develop a rapport with the actors during the performance and let them know that their questions will be happily and thoughtfully answered afterwards. Pre-Performance
About the Program and Commedia del arte Cafe Floriani is a production created in the tradition of Commedia dell'Arte, a 16th century form of street theatre, based upon mask work and lazzi (comic routines). The scenario of Cafe Floriani is inspired by conflict between two stall holders in and at any market. The performers play a multitude of characters in Cafe Floriani. As with the earliest origins of the Commedia del arte, the simple characters are led by desire, curiosities and confusions in everyday situations. Cafe Floriani was inspired by a production directed by Transient Company co-founder, Tony Kishawi, for the physical theatre ensemble, Full Tilt, which is based in Canberra. Commedia del arte, or ‘the collection of the actors guild’, was a popular form of Italian street theatre in the second half of the Sixteenth Century. Commedia featured mask work by stock characters and improvisation based on scenarios, rather than scripted dialogue. Local gossip and politics were woven into the improvisations to add local colour. A resurgence of interest in Commedia del arte has built during the Twentieth Century because of its influence upon contemporary comedians, situation comedies and popular theatre. Zannis are the servants and are often played as fun loving, mischievous, constantly moving animal-like beings with attention spans of about 30 seconds. Just like animals they are curious about the ways of the world. The world is new to them. They represent poor crude folk from the hills, maybe descended from the devil (some say the lump on a Zanni mask could be the remains of the devil's horns and some say it is just a mole). A Zanni isn't malicious and if he/she affects the scene, it is only by accident. They are ever present like cats. Arlecchino, Punchinelia, Brighelia and Colombina are famous Zannis. The Impostors are those of high status. They can say they are from anywhere and that they are anyone and so they can be anything that the play needs them to be. The Impostors can represent local politicians or other notorious people in the community. They are usually the fathers of the Lovers and the reason why the Lovers can't get together, They are the impersonators. The technica of these masks is more specific. Famous characters in this category are: ll’Doctore, ll’Magnifico, Pantelone and his old old friend Tartaglia. The Maskless characters are left to fill out the play and to carry the event. They seem to be normal when compared to the others and they include La Donna, Isabella, the Lovers, Colombina (a female Zanni), Pedrolino (an elegant male servant), and the Madame (sometimes wife to the rich and miserly old man, Pantalone). Each one has a particular style of audience rapport. There is one mask that can be worn by the Maskless characters and is called the Disguise Mask. It is used literally as a disguise. If a lover wants to see if the lies they have been told are true, they might put on this mask to search for the truth. All characters accept that this mask is who they say they are, until such time as they remove the mask and reveal their true identity. This is done usually as an aside to the audience as in Melodrama. The disguise mask is used by Salieri in the movie ‘Amadeus’. CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES Performance style
The process of improvisation
Consistency of characters
Ensemble
Commedia and contemporary comedy Since its raw beginnings in the sixteenth century, Commedia dell'Arte has influenced drama across cultures and centuries. 1. Modern versions:
2. Improvisation:
3. Developing lazzi:
4. Jiberish:
Responding to Cafe Floriani - Home work or in-class worksheet Form 1. What contributed to the comedy in Cafe Floriani? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Did it entertain you? Why?/Why not? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. How is Cafe Floriani structured? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Content 3. List the themes explored in the production? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Which images or moments from the production have stayed with you? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Context 5. How effective was Cafe Floriani as an example of Commedia del arte for students? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Style 6. How did the actors symbolise the different roles they played? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. List the vocal and movement techniques used. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. How effective was the audience interaction? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evaluation 9. What did you find effective about the production? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Were any aspects of the production less effective? How would you improve them? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Company The starting point for the work of Transient Company is movement. We focus on performance that is physical, that moves through space beyond text and is true physical theatre rather than theatre which is simply physical. Transient Company appreciates a broad audience and travels throughout Australia to present its work. Our audience is ageless because the focus of our work relies on the pleasure of the moment. Its strength is in bringing the imagination to the here and now. Transient Company explores movement theatre using the skills of numerous disciplines: dance, maskwork, mime and object theatre. The aim of our theatre in education program is to inspire students through tangible experience, creating performance work which can be both appreciated and analysed. Our programs both demonstrate and invite participation. Website Check out the Home Page on this site it includes: Creating a Commedia del arte production; photos and information from previous productions; Favorite Links; Up Coming Tours; Masks for sale; Mask Makers; A leather mask makeing student of Tony Kishawi; Jennifer Stannard. hftp://www.ozi.com/commedia Mask Maker Jennifer Stannard's website includes information about: the history of Commedia dell'Arte; Characters; Scenarios; Lazzis; and more... Books Appel, L, Mask Characterisation - An Acting Process, Ellen Appleby Southern Illinois University Press: 1982, Gordon, M., Lazzi - The Comic Routines of the Commedia del'Arte, Performing Arte Publications: Johnstone, K., Impro - Improvisations and the Theatre, Methuen, London: 1981. Rudlin, J., Commedia dell'Arte: An Actor's Handbook, Routledge, London- 1994. Scala, F. & Salermo, H.F., Scenarios of the Commedia del' Arte, Proscenium Publishers Inc. / Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd, New York[Toronto: 1967, 2nd Ed- 1992. (A thorough documentation of the origins of this tradition and its influence on European theatre especially the writers Shakespeare and Molliere is covered in the forward.) Videos The Mask: 1994, featuring Jim Carey is a good example of the spirit of the mask, the wearer's true nature is exposed as the mask is put on by the various characters. Writing and Editing of these teachers notes: * Debbie Wall with ** Director Tony Kishawi * Debbie Wall is the Education Liaison Officer (Secondary) seconded to Queensland Arts Council Education Queensland. ** Re-editited by Tony Kishawi reproduced with the permission of the Qld. Arts Council. Copyright protects this publication. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means prohibited. However, limited photocopying for classroom use is permitted by educational institutions that have a license with the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). Any inquiries should be addressed to Transient Theatre PO Box 923 Gympie Qld 4570 or info@transienttheatre.com
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