Hi guys! Today my class did our first rehearsal for our Commedia dell'Arte 10 min performance - "The Phantom Father". Before I actually delve into the part of the script that we worked on today, I would like to give you the information about the basic skeleton of the story.
- § Pantalone falls of the stairs and hurts his head
- § Pantalone tries to lean on someone and fails
- § Pantalone get even more painful because of Arlecchino
- § Pantalone leaves his word of death - Isabella is supposed to marry Valentino
- § Isabella and Valentino meets and discusses the arranged marriage of Isabella
- § Pantalone dies
- § Il Dottore comes and makes ridiculous examination and diagnosis
- § Lelio, Arlecchino, and Isabella plans to counterfeit the cause of death
- § Arlecchino fakes to be the dead Pantalone
- § Arlecchino fakes Pantalone's words of death as to give a lot of lires to himself
- § Pantalone wakes up again and realizes the situation, turns into fury
We rehearsed the highlighted part of the story. Following is the script corresponding the part that we rehearsed today.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Scene: the garden of Pantalone's house.
There is an "entrance" to the house, and one into the garden from the
street. Pantalone, Arlecchino, and Isabella are heard from inside the house.
PANTALONE: Owww! Ouch! Careful, you
idiot, you're hurting me!
ARLECCHINO: Lean on me, Signore.
ISABELLA: Lean on me, father.
PANTALONE: Oww, owww, oww... gently,
gently... oh my head!
They come out of the house, Pantalone
supported by the other two. He wears a big bandage covering his head, and walks
painfully. Isabella carries his walking stick.
ARLECCHINO: Some fresh air will do you
good, Signore.
ISABELLA: Yes, father, it will put you
on your feet. (They help him walk)
PANTALONE: Ohhh, how I'm suffering! My
hea-ea-ea-d . . .
ISABELLA: There, now, a turn around the
garden . . .
ARLECCHINO: How did it happen, Signore?
PANTALONE: Ohh. . . I don't remember. .
. I was going down into the cellar, when...
ISABELLA: But father, at your age! You
know those stairs are very difficult!
PANTALONE: "At my age!" Do
you think I'm any less fit than I was as a young man?
ARLECCHINO: Of course not, Signore, but
after all, it's been a long time since you were a young man-half a century or
more.,
ISABELLA: But how did you come to fall,
Father?
ARLECCHINO: Did your foot slip?
PANTALONE: Just what I was wondering. .
ISABELLA: The stairs are all worm
eaten; one probably gave way.
ARLECCHINO: Probably.
PANTALONE: Probably. Unless. . . (Stops,
looks at Arlecchino)
ARLECCHINO: Why do you look at me,
Signore?
PANTALONE: Unless...
ARLECCHINO: Unless what?
PANTALONE: Unless you waxed those
steps, hoping I'd fall!
ARLECCHINO: I, Signore? I commit such a
crime?
PANTALONE: You're entirely capable of
it!
ARLECCHINO: And why should I want to
risk your limbs, seeing that you still owe me six months wages?
PANTALONE: Maybe to revenge yourself for
the stick that I have to lay about your wicked shoulders!
ARLECCHINO: Oh, Signore, my shoulders
don't bear any grudges! Those blows, I'm happy to leave them on your conscience!
PANTALONE: (Roars) My stick,
someone!
ARLECCHINO: But, Signore, you're in no
condition to beat me now; wait until you feel stronger!
ISABELLA: Father, don't let yourself be
angry; you'll only make yourself worse.
PANTALONE: Ohhh, my head! So be it;
when I'm on my feet, you rascal, I promise to beat all the dust out of your
coat. . .
ARLECCHINO: Oh, Signore, you're too
good to me!
PANTALONE: . . . while it's on your
back!
ARLECCHINO: But, Signore, you'll have
still another sin on your conscience!
PANTALONE: Just wait, you joker! Owww,
my head! I'm all done in, I'll have to sit down. Arlecchino, get me a chair. .
.
ISABELLA: Get a stool also, for his
feet.
ARLECCHINO: Here, lean on Signorina
Isabella till I get back.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Okay, cool. If you take a looksie, the first thing that comes up to the script is the background. This gives us the clues for the set design of this performance, which is a crucial part of it.
Scene: the garden of Pantalone's house. There is an "entrance" to the house, and one into the garden from the street. Pantalone, Arlecchino, and Isabella are heard from inside the house.
As we are all concerned, Commedia dell'Arte is a genre of theatre started in Italy. How can we create the set design, then?
Music -> This can be very effective with creating the mood of the performance. Before we start our performance, we can play music such as
<Italian Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano in 4 Movements, Movement 4 "Commedia dell'Arte"> Sections:Go to the theater 0:00
The story is set 0:42
The love scene 1:52
Italian comedy with a little tour of Italy's famous towns and cities. The stock theater characters of Arlecchino (also known as Harlequin), Pierrot and Pierrette, Pantalone, Il Dottore, Brighella, Il Capitano, Colombina, the Innamorati, Pedrolino, Pulcinella, Sandrone, Scaramuccia (also known as Scaramouche), il Somardino, La Signora, and Tartaglia.
I also like this one. It is Commedia dell'Arte with Baroque dance.. but I can't find the name of the music... Though the music is active and lively.
Anyways, I think music should be as lively and as as dynamic as possible since the first scene involved Arlecchino and Pantalone hurting after falling off the stairs.
stairs and screaming crazy before we start the performance!! Also, to get audience
engagement, Arlecchino, the most active character can improvise, jumping around the
audience seat and showing the active characteristics of this him and this performance!
Like in the JUMP (http://www.yegam.com/jump/kor/) performance!!!
You see how the one of the characters - grandpa - is interacting with the audience before the performance actually starts? He asked the Tsumo people to massage his shoulders! His movement was very focused on his character (Oh it's Stanislavski's embodying!) and he would take photos with the audience, talk to them, etc. But he NEVER forgot to keep his posture like this... Not to mention his grandpa voice and face ;)
Anyways, going back to the set design, I think we can even set a projection on the background wall. The image of a fancy Italian garden must be created because he was a very rich successful Venetian merchant. For example, it would be...
or.....
well I like the second one better because it's more simple and the entrance of the house, and Arlecchino, Isabella, and Pantalone should come out of the entrance. Actresses can mime a door/window opening to show that they are coming out from inside the house and through the entrance.
Projecting the image from away can make unnecessary shades while the actors are acting so the projection should be shot near the screen but should be kept away from the audience's sight.
Maybe we can also decorate the pathway from the entrance of the performance theatre to the audience seat also? But I doubt if it's a good idea since we have about 2 weeks to prepare for it... Ahhh...
_____________________________________________________________________
Now it's time of the characters to speak out their lines. It starts with
PANTALONE: Owww! Ouch! Careful, you idiot, you're hurting me!
ARLECCHINO: Lean on me, Signore.
ISABELLA: Lean on me, father.
PANTALONE: Oww, owww, oww... gently, gently... oh my head!
I think this part could also be voice covered. The voice of the three character screaming/helping Pantalone should be heard from behind the curtain. SPEAK IN LOUD VOICE UNLESS THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU.
______________________________________________________________________
We also went to the theatre prop storage to get some costume/make-up ideas for our performance.
I think Isabella should were pinky-adorable makeup since she is the innamorata. Also, I don't think we should 'stick to' the traditional costume of the stock characters. Rather, I think it is better to adjust to modern style and maybe we can moderate the costumes in the storage... right?
______________________________________________________________________
We have also learned how to adjust the lights in the Black Box Theatre (our performance hall). Just some tips on lighting here.
_______________________________________________________________________
Let's think about something; what is the one of the most crucial and funny convention of Commedia dell'Arte?! It's LAZZI. The kind of lazzi that stands out in this performance is 'physical lazzi'. We can apply the pysical lazzi of trust game in the following lines.
PANTALONE: Just wait, you joker! Owww, my head! I'm all done in, I'll have to sit down. Arlecchino, get me a chair. . .
ISABELLA: Get a stool also, for his feet.
Trust game, I mean, like this one. Pantalone is trying to keep his balance leaning on either or both Arlecchino and Isabella, so... like this but from left to right leaning on either of them, try to balance himself.
<Trust Game>
________________________________________________________________________
And I guess this is all about my ideas during the first rehearsal. I think we need to also work on editing the script so that the length of the performance would be 10-min.
To end the journal today, I would like to leave some videos for acting the stock characters. :)
Arlecchino acting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_LQG8aBNKc
Okay, that's it for tonight... This task intrigues me because I am such a huge fan of Comedy and it's just so interesting seeing the parallels of Commedia Dell'Arte and modern Comedy!
;) "Become so wrapped with something that you forget to be afraid" - Lady Bird Johnsen
No comments:
Post a Comment