Commedia dell'arte (14)

We began this lesson with our normal physical warm up and then looked at what scenes we have so far and what scenes we have discussed but not devised.

Completed:

• Prawn soup (IC, D, P -- Creating the starter)
• Syrup scene (Z, C, D, IC -- Getting Zanni ready. People get stuck together)
• New Waitress (C, D, P -- Columbina introduced to Pantalone. She takes their orders)
• Tasty Paper (C, IC, H -- C gives orders to IC. H eats the orders!)
• A thief in the midst (P, D -- P steals money)

 To do:

• Zanni's entertainment (All -- Zanni fills in for missing guest performer)
• Extendo fork (H, B -- Harlequin trying to steal food)
• Cooking Oil Cocktail (H, B -- B swaps the apple juice H is drinking to cooking oil)
• Cupboard Cuddles (IC, D, H -- Misunderstanding with the poem)

After working out where we were with our piece, we decided begin developing Zanni's entertainment scene. This scene began with my character telling Doctor and Pantalone that the guest performer we had booked was unable to attend this evening. When telling these characters, I tried to keep my voice sounding as calm as I could (as my character would aim to please Pantalone and Doctor as they have a higher status that her) though obviously with an element of anxiety/anger in my voice. The three of us then enter the kitchen and discuss what we should do. Doctor announces to the rest of the kitchen that he should perform, which leads to a silence, which is then broken by Harlequin laughing. He steps forward and states that he should perform a belly dance; this idea is soon rejected and Il Capitano jumps forwards and volunteers himself as tribute. We put a pun in here, stating that "this is not the Hunger Games", thus adding more comedy to the piece and making an old art form appeal to a modern audience. Brighella then pushes Zanni forwards and he is swiftly taken off to get ready for his performance. We then decided to leave this scene at this point, as it would lead on to getting Zanni ready and then him performing (which he could practice at home and then perform in a later lesson as to save time).

We then developed the "Cupboard Cuddles" scene and extended the "Tasty Paper" scene to enable the "Cupboard Cuddles" scene to take place. At the end of "Tasty Paper", IC asks H help on how to woe C. H suggests he writes C a poem, and H writes it for him. H promises IC that he shall deliver the letter to C... but actually delivers it to D for a laugh! H made D believe the letter is from C. D and C end up in the dark cupboard together and (having been very close) when one says "oh Columbina" the other realises there is a problem. The lights go on and they are shocked and discussed what has just happened. Harlequin is outside and asks how their date is going.

Costume design:

• Doctor: slightly cropped trousers (smart but old), waistcoat (smart), off-white shirt (dirty), wide tie (emphasise bold characteristics and size), loafers (old).
• Pantalone: long trousers (smart but slightly un-kept), dark shirt, blazer (tries to make an effort / easier to hide in his greed), grotesque bow tie (odd and unusual character)
• Harlequin: dark jeans (bends the rules to fit in), shiny shoes (bold and in-your-face), t-shirt with picture of a tie on (cheeky by not wearing proper uniform), apron (ordered to wear it)
• Brighella: very smart suit (to show authority)
• Il Capitano: chef uniform complete with hat (very over-the-top and wants to be best prepared)
• Columbina: blouse and apron (as part of uniform, looking smart), heels and tight skirt (shows how flirtatious she is / heels give her height and a bit more authority)
• Zanni: school trousers and shirt (to show his innocence), tie very scruffy (unorganised), generally covered in stains and dirt (accident-prone)