Kristen and Briana's Lesson 1 for Commedia Unit!

Lesson One – Commedia

Grade:  11^th or 12^th, advanced Acting

Materials Needed : Images of characters and Commedia handout

Educational Objective:  Students will demonstrate their understanding of Commedia characters by performing scenes and answering questions.

Hook – As students enter the classroom, instruct the students that you are going to had them images of stereotypical characters.  As they get their images then turn on music as background music and instruct the students to walk around the classroom and react to those around them based on the stereotypical character image they received, but not to show anyone their picture.

Step 1:  Discussion/Assessment -  As the students finish walking ask them what they changed about their movements in order to portray the character on the image? Ask if the students recognized any other characters that were the same as them, or how were they performed differently? “How did the image influence your interactions with each other?”“What information would have been even more beneficial besides just having a stereotypical character image?”

Step 2:  Transition – As you wrap up the discussion, asks students to provide a summary of Servant of Two Masters (which they read for homework the previous weekend).  Ask for a student to come up and based on the students answers work together to write the key details on the board so you have a basic overview of the script and then ask the students for a list of the characters and write them on the board.  

Step 3:  Discussion/Practice - Write the word Commedia on the board and ask the students “What is the overarching definition of Commedia?”  Show a video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m6DjAHCWcy, that defines the basic characters and the following definition - Commedia is a form of popular comedy that was developed in Italy during the 16th to 18th centuries.  The performances included situations that were improvised from a plot outline using stock characters.-  Hand out the Commedia stock character papers to the students and instruct them to get into groups of seven.  Tell the students they have 15 minutes to create a scene with the stock characters having their first ever interaction on a bus.  

Step 4:  Transition/Discussion - As students finish their scenes ask how did these stereotypes affect your interactions with one another?  Were your more loyal to certain characters, did you feel above or beneath other characters based on your stereotype?

Step 5:  Instruction/Assessment –  After wrapping up the discussion, place names of the various characters around the room and instruct students that we are beginning a class project where we are going to analyze the characters from Servant of Two Masters.  Depending on the size of the class instruct students that only two people can be working on the same character and they are to go and stand under the name of the character they want to analyze. Once a character has been filled with two people they are no longer able to use/analyze that character.  The order in which they select will be based on who raises their hand first and correctly answers the following questions based on the information they provided of the Commedia characters. (create more questions based on size of the class)

1.)   What is the costume usually associated with the Arlecchino character?

The costume is tight with colored patches, wearing a belt and a slapstick.

2.)   What is the one of the movements generally used for the Brighalla character?

Weight is placed on a bent leg and the other is extended, lightly touching the ground.

3.)   What is the status of the Capitano?

Is a arrogant, egocentric character

4.)   What part of the face does Dottore’s Mask cover?

The eyes and nose, leaving the cheek bones exposed

5.)   What is the significance of the Lovers?

Without them the complications of the plot would not readily occur

6.)   What costume does Pantalone typically wear?

Tight red trousers or stockings, jacket, loose black cloak, slippers, a money purse on belt

7.)   What is the status of Zanni?

The lowest on the social ladder, poorest and stupidest

Step 6: Instruction – After students have chosen their characters instruct them that throughout the unit we are going to be exploring character analysis of the characters they have chosen, through media.  We will be working towards their final assignment which will require them to use Media to give a presentation of what they have learned about their character.  For homework they are to read over the script through the eyes of their character.

"Characters of Commedia - TEDb." Characters of Commedia - TEDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://tedb.byu.edu/lesson/show?id=267

Handouts

ARLECCHINO

STATUS:  Arlecchino is a shape shifting servant to Pantalone, Il Capitano or Il Dottore. He is a crafty low status character and is very quick, acrobatic and limber.
MOVEMENT:  Arlecchino is always moving. His knees are bent giving him a low center of gravity. Despite his lowness, he should appear as though he could spring up into the air at a moments notice. The elbows are bent and his hands are placed on his belt. There is great lumbar curve and his chest is pushed out. Arlecchino never walks in a straight line, instead, he walks in a zig-zag. Arleccino's speech is like a faucet: either it is on and flowing ceaselessly or it is off. Arlecchino is a paradox in that his agile, quick body doesn't match up with his slow mental processing.
PLOT FUNCTION:  Arlecchino hatches schemes incessantly, but for all his work, they rarely work out. Arlecchino complicates the plot by making a mistake in his orders and causes a communication breakdown. He is the worst messenger imaginable, getting distracted and changing plans during his delivery.

BRIGHALLA

STATUS:  . Usually a proprietor of a shop, he is never wealthy but is better off than the others. He offers, and is asked to give advice to The Lovers. Brighella is good at and pretends to be many things. He can be a servant, magician, fortune teller -- most anything that is asked of him.
MOVEMENT:  Brighella's weight is placed on a bent leg. The other is extended, lightly touching the ground. His elbows are up with his hands spread out. Whether or not he is moving, his feet are constantly moving, dancing back and forth. Like Arlecchino, his back is curved. When Brighella walks, his head stays in place, but his legs come up to the side and his torso sways from side to side. It is a very soft walk, similar to tip-toeing, the difference being that his legs are spread.
PLOT FUNCTION:  Brighella is a very cynical and sarcastic character. For the audience, he is witty, humorous and deceitful. He will do anything to turn a quick buck, even if it requires him selling his sister. He is a cunning liar on occasion bursting out in angry rants when something doesn't go his way.

CAPITANO

STATUS:  The Captain is a arrogant, egocentric man feigning machismo. Behind this thick façade of manliness and courage, he is, in fact, a timid coward afraid of most everything. He probably is not a Captain in an army, but because he moves around from city to city, he is able to pretend he has higher status than he really should.

MOVEMENT:  Il Capitano tries to make himself seen at all times. His feet and legs are far apart in order to make himself appear more mighty and strong. His chest sticks out, puffed up with his shoulders broad. He walks in large strides, lifting his leg up as far as possible and then placing it down mere inches from where it started. His back is straight, and he prances with a bounce in his step. All of his walks are very showy and as a result, quite slow.  Il Capitano's run is prompted by any loud sound, scary object or from being overwhelmed. When this happens, he drops everything, throws his head back, kicks his feet forward and howls is fear. Just like in his walk, he picks his legs up high, but puts them down close to where they started.

GESTURES:  Il Capitano is a piteous coward. Completely opposite from his façade, he is frightened all too easily. When he sees anything he deems a threat (particularly mice) he shakes down to a squat making himself as small as possible and whimpers. Il Capitano brags about his sexual prowess and fierceness is battle, but is overwhelmed by women and terrified of confrontation. He wants to be seen at all times. Craving attention, he stops when he sees the audience and presents himself by showing off. The audience should realize from the start that everything that The Captain does is a farce and betrays his rough exterior.

PLOT FUNCTION: Events always unfold to show his blind cowardice.

DOTTORE

STATUS:  Il Dottore is a doctor, although it is questionable whether he has ever attended school. Nevertheless, Il Dottore maintains his high position in society because he can make it seem as though he knows what he is talking about. He blathers in fake Latin, on and on. The lower class characers are awed by his "knowledge" and so he maintains his status. Like all the old men, however, he is always shown up as a quack at the end of the play.
MOVEMENT:  Il Dottore stands with his great weight on the back of his heels and his stomach slopped forward, hands gesturing with every word. Il Dottore always walks when he talks. Instead of in a straight line, he meanders in figure eights using tiny steps. His weight makes it difficult for him to move fast.
GESTURES:  Il Dottore wants all the space on the stage for himself and he takes up room with his gut and his words.  He loves to eat. His prominent stomach is the focus of attention.  His speech is the key to his character. He has a lisp and never stops talking. He believes he is an expert on anything and everything. Not knowing what he is talking about, he nonetheless sprinkles in very large words (most times fake) to sound convincing.

PLOT FUNCTION:  Il Dottore gives the other actors a break by taking up space and time to talk. He is usually onstage for a long time, having to be removed either physically (while still talking) or after having been convinced that he should go in order to free up the stage. 

THE LOVERS

STATUS:  The Lovers are high status. They are the sons and daughters of the old men characters with high social status.

MOVEMENT:  The Lovers stand firmly rooted, but light in the torso and head. They are whimpering fluffs of infatuation and their stance should convey their fragility. They take many breaths and seem like bubbles -- they could pop at any time. They wobble rather than walk, floating from side to side.

GESTURES:  One hand usually holds a prop of some type, usually a letter one is swooning over or a handkerchief. Their arms are never in the same position; they are always primping to make sure that they look their best. The Lovers enjoy lamenting their situation and speaking pretentiously to each other about their love for one another. They are in love with themselves and their expressions of love that they spout. Contact is rarely made in the courting/wooing and so the ceaseless, foolish exchange continues unabated.

PLOT FUNCTION:  Without The Lovers' problems, complications would not so readily occur.

PANTALONE

STATUS:  Pantalone, because he is rich and miserly, holds the highest social status in the commedia hierarchy. He always has servants working for him. Pantalone is deathly afraid of losing his money which, in turn, would cause him to lose his place in society.

MOVEMENT:  Pantalone, being an old man, hunches over the money purse on his belt protecting it from thieves. He shuffles across the stage, the motion of his legs very limited. His knees are bent with the pelvis open spreading the legs. Pantalone can mimic the walks of all the other characters. Upon hearing bad news, he falls flat on his back, and curls up like a dying insect. But like a turtle, he cannot right himself without someones help.

GESTURES:  Although Pantalone's body is old, his hands, feet and head are very expressive and quick. His hands are always moving, gesturing every thought that comes to him. Pantalone believes that everything can be bought.

PLOT FUNCTION:  Just like Il Capitano and Il Dottore, Pantalone is set up to fall or made to look like a fool. He is taken advantage of and ends up without his money or swindled out of most of it. His servants (Brighella, Arlecchino, Zanni or all three) are usually the ones that set him up for his fall.

ZANNI

STATUS:  Zanni is the lowest on the social ladder. He is the poorest, stupidest, and hungriestservant imaginable and never does a good job. Sleeping on the job, sneaking off to eat food, or daydreaming, Zanni cannot do what he is told very well at all.
MOVEMENT:  Zanni's movements are very exaggerated and his head sticks out seperately from the movements of his body. His nose points to the subject of interest. Zannis with smaller noses are quicker witted (but still terribly dumb) and can do acrobatics. With a very low center of gravity, his lower back is arched with all the weight on one bent leg. The other leg is pointed out in front of him. His legs are always changing back and forth from bent to straight as he listens without moving his head . Zanni sleeps all the time and does this by standing on one leg and crosses his other leg over his knee. Zanni props his head on his arm on his knee and goes to sleep.  Zanni's actions are very urgent and pressing. He seems nervous and his nose is the center of his actions.
GESTURES:  Zanni has little control of his body. Sometimes limbs will become "possessed" and start acting up all by themselves contrary to Zanni's knowledge. He is always hungry and sees the possibility of food in anything. His imagination is influenced by his insatiable appetite. Zanni is foolish and has limited self-awareness but is very loyal. In many ways he is like a dog.
PLOT FUNCTION:  Zanni carries the plot along and confuses it by messing up. His attempts to complete a task lead to something going awry.