Renaissance
Italy
Around 1400-1700
Theatre around 15001700
RENAISSANCE =
REBIRTH
Mona Lisa (Da Vinci, 1503-1506)
2 Forms of Italian Theatre
Commedia dell’arte
Courtly Dramas
Commedia dell’arte
Refresher
 Italian, 1500s1700s
 Improvisational
Theatre
 Unscripted, Free
to watch
 First female
performers
Commedia dell’arte
Refresher
 Lazzi, burle
 Innamorati,
vecchi, zanni
 Stock characters
including
Arlecchino,
Pantalone, Flavio,
Isabella, and
Pedrolino
Courtly Dramas and Neoclassicism
…
…
…
…
Neoclassicism
or What’s With the Fancy Word,
Mr. S?
 ALL you need to know:
 Neoclassicism
means new
classicism
 After discovering
classic books by
Aristotle, Sophocles,
Euripides, and
Aristophanes, artists
of all sorts wanted
to create art based
on Greek models
Italian Courtly Dramas
 Members of the wealthy
class built permanent
indoor theatres
 Era is not well known for
dramatic lit, most scripts
are lost
 Comedy/tragedy after
Roman model
 Major example:
Mandragola (The
Mandrake) by
Machiavelli
Italian Courtly Dramas
 Pastoral Drama
 Nymphs (?) &
shepherds in love.
 Appeal: nostalgia,
simple life
 New style: intermezzi
 Allegorical plot +
spectacle
 Courtly audience
 Plays are written in the
Neoclassical style
Structures & Stages
 Teatro Farnese, 1618
 First permanent
proscenium arch
stage!
 Creates
perspective
(connects to
painters of the
time)
Scenic Technology
 WINGS!
 Angled Vs. Flat
 Groove system (wings slide
in grooves)
Scenic Technology
Famous Renaissance
Italians
 Niccolo Machivelli
 Petrarch
 Leonardo Da Vinci
 Copernicus
 Descartes
 Galileo
 Michelangelo
What Can We Do?
 A Play
 A Presentation
 A Song
 A PowerPoint
 A Poster Wall
 Requirements:
 Everyone must speak
 Treat whatever you do like
a performance