Fencing influences on Italian theatre

During the 16th century, fencing had become wildly popular. Two notable fencing masters were Camillo Agrippa and Capo Ferro. These two names are quite popular in the realm of fencing even today. It is interesting to note the Capitano stock character is always dressed to kill. Meaning he is always ready to duel; cape adorned and sword at his side. It seems what we would call the pop culture of the time, be it fencing, had found a way to leak into the Italian form of media, theatre. Fencing was such a part of masculinity that it was being advertised by the "young adventurer" character in the plays. It is also interesting to see how this art also helped spark the sport of fencing in other countries and helped the italian fencing masters gain work in foreign countries.

Commedia dell'Arte: Stock characters

Pantalone: Old man, who was usually more dense(slower) than the other characters, very talkative, very much into food and women, as well as temperamental and gullible. Usually at the wrong end of a joke, and made a fool by someone close to him.
Doctor: Old man, who came from an educated background of some sort. Not always a doctor but sometimes philosopher, professor, astrologer, etc... Usually misquoted Latin during the show, he was thought of as conceited.
Capitano: Young man,adventurous, outgoing, who usually spoke in spanish and wore a cape and a sword. The idea was "dressed to kill" as dueling was very popular for this character. Usually more cowardly than brave, liked to talk himself up. It was not uncommon for this character to have some intimacy with a woman during the show.
Zanni: Jester like servants/slaves to the Doctor and Pantalone. Somewhat absent minded as well, they can be found making love to the servant women during the shows. They are knavish at times.
Punchinello: Hunchback with a long nose and three pointed hat. Although a handful at times this character was not overly talkative. His appearance, however, led to obvious assumptions of the character.

It is important to note that most of these stock characters were played by the same actor over and over again. So even though the actors did many shows, essentially it was the same character. This made their job a lot easier, as improvisation was a large portion of their shows.

Moliere: The Creator of French High Comedy

Jean-Babtiste Poquelin, or the playwright better known as Molière was born in Paris, France January 15, 1622. His father was one of eight of the king’s upholsterers. While growing up in the king’s court, Molière, also had the privilege of attending one of the finest schools at the time, the College de Clermont in Paris. At the age of twelve, his mother passed away, leaving him and his father alone. Although his father was remarried, the second wife passed away when Molière was only fifteen.
His father's shop was located near two important theatrical sites: the Pont-Neuf and the Hôtel de Bourgogne. This is significantly important as they played a major part in getting this playwright into theatre. It was at these two places that Molière, accompanied by his grandfather, developed his appreciation for theatre, and by the age of twenty one dedicated his life to it. After turning a tennis court into a theatre, and flopping for nearly two years, Molière decided to write plays for his troupe. On the evening of October 24, 1658, Molière and his troupe performed for the first time before Louis XIV. After performing one of his own plays, "The Love-sick Doctor", the company proved to be much improved and received much needed support from the king. It would be during these following years that Molière would establish himself as the creator of French High Comedy. His witty banter and satyr proved quite successful. However, it proved troublesome too. Although his plays were humorous, they were a little too true. As a result, many of the victims of satirical jokes in his plays did not like being made fun of. On February 17, 1673, Molière suffered a hemorrhage while playing the role Argan in "The Imaginary Invalid". Despite the advice of friends and family, he finished the performance, and unfortunately passed away later that night. Local priests refused to take his last confessions because he was an actor, and actors were of a lower social standing. Actors at this time were excommunicated from the church and also received no burial on sacred grounds. Four days later, the king overruled this, and Molière was laid to rest in the Cemetery Saint Joseph. It is safe to assume his relationship with the king was that of a friendly and well liked nature. A few of his well known plays are as follows: "The School for Husbands" (1661), "The School for Wives" (1662), "The Misanthrope" (1666), "The Doctor in Spite of Himself" (1666), "Tartuffe" (1664,1667,1669), "The Miser" (1668), and "The Imaginary Invalid" (1673).

Tartuffe Lobby Display

Above is a display board showing snapshots of the play. This lobby display should help give an idea of the visual style of the play, while also telling you something about the characters.