Scenarios of the Commedia Dell'arte by Flaminio Scala

Describes improvisations, staging, marks, scenarios, acting troupes, and origins. Illustrated history of the beginnings, growth and influence of the commedia dell’arte. has provided the descriptions of these books. Here are my top picks for resources on the Commedia dell’Arte. The Commedia Dell’Arte Masks available at are based in the historical forms but lean toward a more modern sculptural style. The Commedia dell’Arte, as Lecoq sums it up, is a style where the play is in play c’est le jue qui est en jeu. It is always played at the highest level of intensity, at a level that is beyond laughter and beyond terror. This very aspect is why Jacques Lecoq integrated the mask work of the Commedia dell’Arte into his system of training actors. The Commedia and its world of masks insists on an urgency for life. It is cruel, in the present, and without remorse.

The commedia is a style that, although comic, rests essentially in tragedy and revolves around fundamental themes such as fear: fear of death, fear of life, fear or everything. Thus, we find the major themes of the Commedia to be based on death, love, hunger and greed. It is a style that emerged during the renaissance following the plague, “Black Death” at a time of, death, starvation and economic upheaval. The hallmark of the Commedia is the desperate nature of its stock characters who became known simply as the masks.

It is a masked form of physical theatre that involves broad comedy and highly structured improvisation. The Commedia dell’Arte emerged in the second half of the 16th century in Italy.

Scenarios of the Commedia Dell'arte by Flaminio Scala