COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

(Italian: comedy of art), Italian theatrical form that flourished throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th century. Outside Italy, the form had its greatest success in France, where it became the Comdie-Italienne (q.v.). In England, elements from it were naturalized in the harlequinade in pantomime (see mime and pantomime) and in the Punch-and-Judy show, a puppet play involving the commedia dell'arte character Punch (q.v.). The commedia dell'arte was a form of popular theatre that emphasized ensemble acting; its improvisations were set in a firm framework of masks and stock situations, and its plots were frequently borrowed from the classical literary tradition of the commedia erudita, or literary drama. Professional players who specialized in one role developed an unmatched comic acting technique, which contributed to the popularity of the itinerant commedia troupes that traveled throughout Europe. Despite contemporary depictions of scenarios and masks and descriptions of particular presentations, impressions today of what the commedia dell'arte was like are secondhand. The art is a lost one, its mood and style irrecoverable.