Useful Commedia Facts

USEFUL COMMEDIA FACTS

KEY ASPECTS OF CDA
{ Three Act Comic Structure
{ Stock Characters, each one fixed into a social positional and emotional state
{ Each Actor specialises in onecharacter, which is close to their way of looking at the world
{ Each character has their own separate way of relating to an audience, as regards their attitude to them, each character has their ownrep[ertoire of stock scenes, speeches, lazzzi etc.
{ The Use of Lazzi ( personal comic business), Jeu or Mechanismi (plot related prepared comic business), Song, Dance, Juggling Theatricalacrobatics.
{ Masks
{ Plot lines and Motivation based upon personalised fears
{ All scenes are based on a sketch format, and run on the beginning, middle, end formula. This corresponds with thedramaticequation of fear, leading to tension and suspense, and the release of suspense being the place where laughter may be looked for.
{ CDA is a mirror of the world ( Baroque ideal) and aims toshow all people's strengths and weaknesses, but nevertheless contrives, even at worst, to have an ironic happy ending
{ The performance style is direct and physical, taking what is best fromstreet theatre, stand-up comedy,pantomime and leaving the rest in the trashcan.
{ The use of different dialects,languages, musical styles in performance
{ That the plot was known, and the dialoguewas mixture of improvised and prepared stock speeches, relying on the intellegence and the individual ensemble skills of the actor.
{ a mixture of slapstick,high drama, political parable andcomedy
{ The subject matter is money, power, sex, PC version: comfort, control, support.

Key Themes for CDA
{ Political Parable
{ Doing a Heroic Thing
{ Doing a Shameful Thing
{Deliberately Stitching someone up badly: the dirty trick
{ Obstacles to personal happiness: Parents, Poverty and Personality
{ The Family and Associated Difficulties
{ Revenge for a real or...