Exploring different types of comedy :: Drama

Exploring different types of buffooneryI am dispel of a group working on a devised piece establish on the theme ofcomedy. We have explored different types of comedy and atomic bet 18 inventways of using these in a piece of drama.We were given nearly stimulus material about commedia dellarte, thisliterally means artistic comedy. It started in the later half of the16th century and this was a period where plays were stylish, classicand c mature. So, commedia dellarte was the complete opposite and soonloud, colourful representations cropped up all everywhere Italy. The rulesof theatre were subverted in this new style.Commedia dellarte is mainly based on alleviate improvisation on stage.Actors starting performing on simple stages pay back outdoors with a simpleyet essential background. These improvised performances were neersubtle and the humour was very often bawdy and coarse.There are a number of traditional characters that are related tocommedia dellarte. Harlequin is belie vably the best known out of all ofthe characters. He is comic handmaiden who is lazy but energetic and bothstupid and clever. He adds to the comedy that is being created onstage by the pure stupidity of the things that he does. He is oftenseen leaping into the air, dancing and walking on stilts. some other well known character is Pantaloon. He is a comic old merchantfrom Venice. He loves to give advice although he often receives blowsfrom his servants, which creates comedy on stage.Even though commedia dellarte didnt generate specific ideas forcharacters as such(prenominal) it did give us with ideas for basic plot, asthis genre achieves most of its humour on stage from the ridiculoussituations that the characters are faced with.Our group was given a second stimulus of pantomime, and we were givenDick Whittington, written by Derek Dwyer and Merlin Price. InBritish theatre pantomime is a Christmas or New year entertainment,but its origins can be traced back to the 16th century impr ovisedcomic drama, commedia dellarte. This can be seen as pantomimeretained a number of elements of commedia dellarte, including theactress playing the part of the principle boy, and the actor playingthe dame. slightly new elements were also added into pantomime as it developedthroughout the ages such as popular songs, topical humour, audienceparticipation and a number of guest appearances from popularentertainers of the day.Many of these characteristics of typical pantomime can be seen in theextract that we have been given of Dick Whittington. For example,before anyone even speaks in that respect is a song to begin the show. This is