Commedia dell"arte is a truly popular form of theatre - of the people, by the people, for the people. Discuss this statement with specific examples of Commedia dell"arte scenarios, stock characters, performance features and circumstances. Commedia dell"arte is definitely an artform centred on people and their world. Although its origins are hazy due to the illiteracy of its first performers and audience, it is believed to have stemmed from the carnivals in Italy during the sixteenth century. Here it rose from the people from folk theatre, which used masks and music, and from the charlatans using pretence as a means...
people. Commedia was certainly for the people, as the troupes played upon whatever they reacted heavily to, and their techniques, such as movement and grummelot, ensured enjoyment by all, even if they did not speak the dialect being used by the troupes. Commedia was aimed at entertaining the Italian public with its techniques, conventions and themes included in thier scenarios. The universatility of this form derides from the ability it had to change and suit the people it was directed at, whilst not comprising in its essentials such as masks, improvisation, movement and acrobatics, stock characters, scenarios and lazzis.