Word: commedia
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Like Serban, Strehler introduces anachronisms into his production - the commedia dell'arte for the comic duo of Trinculo and Stephano, for example, and a hint of Peking opera mannerism for Ariel - but they effectively underscore the contrasts between the spirit and human worlds, making the confrontation even more pointed. This is a Tempest of clarity, strength and purpose - exactly what was lacking in the Royal Opera's Turandot. The cross-cultural irony is inescapable: the English company presenting the Italian opera had failed, but the Italians staging an English classic had made a glorious success...
Galas. Or: The Life and Hard Times of Maria Callas. Leave it to off-off-Broadway's Charles Ludlam-playwright, producer, director and, in the title role, every inch a diva-to put the art back into commedia dell'arte...
...fall of 1981 she had been acting almost without a break since 1977. At 24 she had made nine movies, had played commedia dell'arte and Polish romantic stage literature for the Drama Theater, and had just finished taking the part of Desdemona in a TV production of Othello. She was at the top of her profession in a country where theater is taken seriously...
SERBAN, who first created the Sganarelle collection at Yale four years ago, has almost as much fun with the plays as do the actors. In Moliere's time, the farces that revolve around the stock character, Sganarelle, were part of the commedia dell'arte repertory of his company. The original master could rely on the improvisational technique of a fixed crew of actors to excite and entertain. Serban continues this tradition by having his actors trade roles in each of the four farces. The constant rotation fosters an appreciation for the different inflections of the characterizations, but it also builds...
...Commedia del l'arte is renowned for its blend of spontaneity and old hat--stock characters, stock situations, stock slapstick bits continually reshaped according to the whims of its experienced performers and the peculiarities of the audience and the space. At the beginning of this production, when the actors lug in part of the set, throwing out lines like. "Anybody I know out there?" and "Small house tonight," they establish a quick and funny rapport with the audience. Then the "ad-libs" cease and the show sobers up. Great--sober commedia del l'arte by inexperienced actors on the Loeb...