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Brighella
Brighella (in Bergamasque dialect: ''Brighèla'') is a comic, masked character from the Italian theatre style Commedia dell'arte. His early costume consisted of loosely fitting, white smock and pants with green trim and was often equipped with a ' (also ' or ', depending on region) or slap stick, or else with a wooden sword. Later he took to wearing a sort of livery with a matching cape. He wore a greenish half-mask (traditionally olive-green) displaying a look of preternatural lust and greed. It is distinguished by a hook nose and thick lips, along with a thick twirled mustache to give him an offensive characteristic. He evolved out of the general Zanni, as evidenced by his costume, and came into his own around the start of the 16th century. He is loosely categorized as one of the ''zanni'' or servant characters though he often was portrayed as a member of the middle class such as a tavern owner: his character could be adapted to whatever the needs to the scenario might be, j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezzetino
Mezzetino, also Mezzettino, (Pron. ''met-zeh-TEE-no'') is a character from the ''commedia dell'arte'' and is considered by Duchartre to be a variant on the stock character Brighella. His name means "Half-Measure (of liquor)" in Medieval Italian, and he is sometimes called in French and English plays "Mezzetin". He first appeared in the 16th century. Mezzetino is an adept schemer and trouble-maker, willing to commit acts of violence if necessary, but on the whole a little calmer than his brother Brighella, and much more gentle and cultivated, especially in his later life. He is often very musically inclined, and can sing and dance with skill. His character can vary greatly: he can be a loyal servant or simply scheming for his master's downfall; he can be a deceitful husband or be deceived by his wife. He also seems to be rather more interested in the ladies than is Brighella, often coming over as rather creepy in his efforts to flirt. His costume has gone through similar variati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zanni
Zanni (), Zani or Zane is a character type of commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and a trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside and is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker".Rudlin, John. ''Commedia dell'arte: An Actors Handbook''. London: Routledge, 1994. 67. Print."Immigrant" in Italy at the time of the city-states did not mean someone from outside of Italy but rather someone from outside the city, an itinerant worker. Through time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in ''commedia'' as early as the 14th century. The English word '' zany'' derives from this person. The longer the nose on the characters mask the more foolish the character. Origin of the name The name ''Zanni'' (as well as ''Zuan'') is a variant of the name ''Gianni'' and was common in the Lombard-Venetian countryside which provided most of the servants to the wealthy nobles and merchants of Venice. In Italian it is specifically a name of someone whose identity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scapino
Scapino, or Scapin, is a zanni character from the commedia dell'arte. His name is related to the Italian word "scappare" (to escape) and his name translates to “little escape artist” in reference to his tendency to flee from fights, even those he himself begins. He has been dated to the last years of the 16th century, and his creation is sometimes credited to Niccolò Barbieri.Niccolò Barbieri' He is a Bergamo native, and was popularized by the actor Francesco Gabrielli. Costume Later versions show his costume with green (or sometimes turquoise) and white stripes, similar to Mezzetino's red and white, but Jacques Callot, Callot shows Scapino in an outfit similar to the early Brighella's, white with a tabaro and a sword on his belt, and topped with a torn hat adorned with feathers. He is in fact a variant on Brighella, more cowardly and less clever. Some people call him Brighella's brother, some his son. Character Scapino tends to make a confusion of anything he undertakes an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zanni
Zanni (), Zani or Zane is a character type of commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and a trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside and is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker".Rudlin, John. ''Commedia dell'arte: An Actors Handbook''. London: Routledge, 1994. 67. Print."Immigrant" in Italy at the time of the city-states did not mean someone from outside of Italy but rather someone from outside the city, an itinerant worker. Through time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in ''commedia'' as early as the 14th century. The English word '' zany'' derives from this person. The longer the nose on the characters mask the more foolish the character. Origin of the name The name ''Zanni'' (as well as ''Zuan'') is a variant of the name ''Gianni'' and was common in the Lombard-Venetian countryside which provided most of the servants to the wealthy nobles and merchants of Venice. In Italian it is specifically a name of someone whose identity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beltrame
Beltrame (in Milanese: ''Baltramm'') is a traditional character of the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'' associated to the city of Milan, and dating back to the 16th-17th century or earlier.Beltrame di Milano' It is also often referenced by the full name Beltrame di Milano and also as Beltrame di Gaggiano (from the ''borgo'' - now a ''comune'' - of Gaggiano, in the surroundings of Milan) or Beltrame de la Gippa (where the "gippa" is the large blouse, or tunic, worn by the character).The Commedia dell'arte'' The creation of Beltrame character is sometimes credited to Niccolò Barbieri. In any case, Barbieri largely contributed to the popularity of the character with plays such as ''L'inavvertito''.The Blunderer' Barbieri was an actor as well as a comedian, and assumed the role and stage name of Beltrame himself. His character is a usually a crafty, astute villager and husband and blunderer, always trying to appear of higher rank than he really is;. He took on several different roles, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commedia Dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Characterized by masked "types", was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A , such as ''The Tooth Puller'', is both scripted and improvised. Characters' entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of is the , a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin. The characters of the usually represent fixed social types and stock characters, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado. The characters are exaggerat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Theatre
The theatre of Italy originates from the Middle Ages, with its background dating back to the times of the ancient Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, in Southern Italy, the theatre of the Italic peoples and the theatre of ancient Rome. It can therefore be assumed that there were two main lines of which the ancient Italian theatre developed in the Middle Ages. The first, consisting of the dramatization of Catholic liturgies and of which more documentation is retained, and the second, formed by pagan forms of spectacle such as the staging for city festivals, the court preparations of the jesters and the songs of the troubadours. Renaissance humanism was also a turning point for the Italian theatre. The recovery of the ancient texts, both comedies and tragedies, and texts referring to the art of the theatre such as Aristotle's '' Poetics'', also gave a turning point to representational art, which re-enacted the Plautian characters and the heroes of Seneca's tragedies, but also bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Barbier De Séville
''The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution'' (french: Le Barbier de Séville ou la Précaution inutile) is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, with original music by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. It was initially conceived as an opéra comique, and was rejected as such in 1772 by the Comédie-Italienne. The play as it is now known was written in 1773, but, due to legal and political problems of the author, it was not performed until February 23, 1775, at the Comédie-Française in the Tuileries. It is the first play in a trilogy of which the other constituents are ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and '' The Guilty Mother''. Though the play was poorly received at first, Beaumarchais worked some fast editing of the script, turning it into a roaring success after three days. The play's title might be a pun on Tirso de Molina's earlier play '' El Burlador de Sevilla'' (''The Trickster of Seville''). Mozart wrote a set of 12 variations, K. 354, on one of Baudron's songs, "". Synops ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Florio
Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. Florio contributed 1,149 words to the English language, placing third after Chaucer (with 2,012 words) and Shakespeare (with 1,969 words), in the linguistic analysis conducted by Stanford professor John Willinsky. Florio was the first translator of Montaigne into English, the first translator of Boccaccio into English and he wrote the first comprehensive Italian–English dictionary (surpassing the only previous modest Italian–English dictionary by William Thomas published in 1550). Playwright and poet Ben Jonson was a personal friend, and Jonson hailed Florio as "loving father" and "ayde of his muses". Philosopher Giordano Bruno was also a personal friend; Florio met the Italian philosopher in London, while both of them were residing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Louis Duchartre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation of Aramaic כיפא (''Kefa),'' the nickname Jesus gave to apostle Simon Bar-Jona, referred in English as Saint Peter. Pierre is also found as a surname. People with the given name * Abbé Pierre, Henri Marie Joseph Grouès (1912–2007), French Catholic priest who founded the Emmaus Movement * Monsieur Pierre, Pierre Jean Philippe Zurcher-Margolle (c. 1890–1963), French ballroom dancer and dance teacher * Pierre (footballer), Lucas Pierre Santos Oliveira (born 1982), Brazilian footballer * Pierre, Baron of Beauvau (c. 1380–1453) * Pierre, Duke of Penthièvre (1845–1919) * Pierre, marquis de Fayet (died 1737), French naval commander and Governor General of Saint-Domingue * Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois (1895–1964), father ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
