"Commedia dell´arte (/kɒˈmeɪdiə dɛlˈɑːrteɪ, kə-, -ˈmɛdiə, -ˈɑːrtiː/; Italian: [komˈmɛːdja delˈlarte]; lit. ´comedy of the profession´) was an early form of professional theatre, originating in Italy, that was popular ...
[Read more]
throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as commedia alla maschera, commedia improvviso, and commedia dell´arte all´improvviso. Characterized by masked "types", commedia was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A commedia, such as The Tooth Puller, is both scripted and improvised. Characters´ entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of commedia is the lazzo, a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of commedia is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin." - (en.wikipedia.org 26.02.2022)
