italian renaissance theatre

Italian Renaissance Theatre

By Cristina Macchiagodena

Index

Time Period

Architecture

Commedia Dell'Arte

Final Thoughts

Architecture

The architecture was the most prevalent idea in the Italian Renaissance Drama. The Italians invented the Proscenium Arch stage which is still used as a basis for stages to this day. This piece of architect changed the way stages were set up forever.

Itlain architects started focousing on illusions in order to create spaces and depth that was not there. They crafted split hallways that curved in order to allow for a moving effect. The center of the stage was meant for large paintings to hang up as the backdrop.

Neoclassism held a hold on the creation of the sets for the plays as they wanted to conform to those traditional details as well as renew them. Neoclassism is all about keeping the traditional roots and recreating the old ways into something even greater.

Commedia Dell'Arte

Characters

The charcters in these plays were based off the social types and had their own Lazzi to follow from. Many of these "stock characters" follow traits that are used today.

Commedia Dell'Arte was a form of theatre that had many actors performing on the streets, using the space around them to tell stories. They started off on the city streets or even sometimes in temporary theatres, but eventually started preforming wherever the commissioner was.

characters

The plot in these plays usually focused on romantic relationships, jealousy, forgiveness, and they were always comedies.

people inolved

The Italian Renaissance

This specific area of the renaissance contained many breakthroughs in the way of drama that mainly had to do with architecture. New scenic designs were created to show new areas and new worlds the characters were entering in. Everything was built so that it seemed like the audience could actually feel the motions of backgrounds.

The Italian Renaissance period was a time when the arts thrived, resulting in many astonishing artists coming to the world's attention. The Renaissance took place between the 14th century and the 17th century, but the main drama points were heavily focused on in the 15th-16th century.

Plays during this time were usually for the commoners as they were held in the streets or at public places. They eventually became popular for the high class which resulted in actors and directors to work off commissions. This would create troupes, which were a group of people who performed plays all over the country. Females were also allowed to act which was revolutionary during this time.

Final Thoughts

The Italian Renaissance was a period where the arts thrived, which means the art of drama was also thriving. Although the Italian renaissance is known for its esteemed artists, there are many other outlets at the time such as architecture, literature, directing, and acting. Italy has always been one for appreciating their artistic talents and excelling in what they know to be true. In the case of drama, they went above and beyond by creating new concepts, themes, and ways of interpreting these pieces.

Thanks for listening!

Citations

• “Italian Renaissance Scenic Design.” Italian Renaissance Theatre - Home, italian-renaissance-theatre.weebly.com/italian-renaissance-scenic-design.html.
• “Commedia Dell'Arte.” Italian Renaissance Theatre, italian-renaissance-theatre.weebly.com/commedia-dellarte.html.
• Eckersley, Mark. Women in Theatre in the Renaissance in Great Britain & Italy, 1 Jan. 1970, theatrestyles.blogspot.com/2017/06/women-in-theatre-in-renaissance-in.html.
• “Developments of the Renaissance.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/art/theater-building/Developments-of-the-Renaissance.
• “Carlo Goldoni.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Carlo-Goldoni.
• “Leonardo Da Vinci.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Aug. 2019, www.biography.com/artist/leonardo-da-vinci#:~:text=Leonardo%20da%20Vinci%20was%20a%20Renaissance%20painter%2C%20sculptor%2C%20architect%2C,which%20greatly%20informed%20his%20work.