Mask Arts Company

Recommended Books
On
Commedia dell'Arte Masks
Mask Arts Company: Stanley Allan Sherman © 2008

Based on the opinions of experts who I respect and my knowledge of Commedia dell'Arte, I recommend these books as being the best on Commedia dell'Arte that I have found. They contain accurate information and are well written and, therefore an easy read - unless otherwise noted.

Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte
Flaminio Scala's
Il Teatro delle favole rappresentative
Translated by Henry F. Salerno
Published by New York University Press
University of London Press Limited, 1967
411 pages

Flaminio Scala's book Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte is made up of fifty Commedia dell'Arte scenarios believed performed by the famous Gelosi Company from 1578 - 1604. The Gelosi Company home was in the Venetian Republic and the company performing throughout Europe. They performed what we call the Northern Commedia dell'Arte, different from the Southern Commedia dell'Arte. This translation is more for scholars studying Commedia from an academic point than performers, but it is one of the best collections of scenarios that have survived from the time of the Commedia dell'Arte that is translated into English. To teach or perform Commedia dell'Arte, you need to know complete original scenarios, which this book provides. When reading it, you will easily find many pieces of Shakespearian plays, i.e. Romeo and Juliet, only it is a comedy with a happy ending. The appendix covers the English (Shakespeare) and French playwrights showing what these writers took from these scenarios for their plays. This book is must for any theatre library or theatre professional. If you read Italian and can obtain an Italian copy, do so.

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The Italian Comedy
By Piuerre Louis Duchartre
Published by Dover Publications, Inc
Published in 1966 originally published by Geroge G. Harrap & Co., Ltd, 1929
366 pages

This is one of the best, most complete books on Commedia dell'Arte available. It will give you a complete overview, including 259 illustrations, pieces of scenarios, complete Commedia dell'Arte Character breakdowns, history, information about companies, women and more. The Italian Comedy is still in publication, has had many printings and it is one of the must have books for any theatre library and is well priced. If your budget can only afford three books, it would be this one and the one above Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte and below The Commedia dell'Arte.

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The Commedia dell'Arte
By Giacomo Oreglia
Translated by Lovett F. Edwards
Published by Dramabook
Hill and Wang NY
First Published by Sveriges Radio, Stockholm in 1961
First Dramabook edition March 1968
158 pages

According to the late Carlo Mazzone-Clementi, this is the best and most accurate book on the Commedia dell'Arte. Of course, it is out of print. But your library should have it or you can ask your library to get it though the Interlibrary Loan System system in the United States or International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' International Lending outside the United States. The Commedia dell'Arte includes 4 complete scenarios, 58 illustrations, history, technique, the major characters, including lovers, women masked and unmasked and the great companies. A must have book if you can get a hold of it.

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The Commedia dell'Arte in Naples:
A Bilingual Edition of the 176 Casamarciano Scenarios
Translated and Edited by
Francesco Cotticelli, Anne Goodrich Heck and Thomas F. Heck
Published by: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001
V I, 561 pages, V II, 568 pages

Yes, a new publication and still in print! This is the best book on the Southern Commedia dell'Arte that I've seen and the best new book published on the Commedia dell'Arte as of July 2008. It is different from the Northern tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte, with which most people are familiar, Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte. The authors/translators have excellent reputations and the forward can be a book on its own covering Commedia dell'Arte history, the translation and finding these scenarios from the 1600's. What is also lovely about this book is that you do not have a so-called "expert" telling you what Commedia dell'Arte was and is. Rather here is a book where you can read for yourself the scenarios they performed.

The English translation is excellent, as they have tried to be as exact as possible preserving some of the fine detail of the structure of the scenarios that make it great for performers, directors and teachers. The authors also encourage institutions to try to perform these scenarios and do not ask for a royalty fee if you're an educational institution. They would like you to send them a video of your performance - actually you can send one to me as well. The Commedia dell'Arte in Naples will give you a real window into this Southern Commedia dell'Arte company that performed these scenarios.

There is one wonderfully frustrating things about these scenarios. Often in the scenarios, it refers to a character doing his or her lazzi. We have no idea what those lazzi's were, but they wrote it for their use and not for ours. It is up to the performer today to come up with these lazzi's now. Many characters can be totally unfamiliar, so you will also need to buy an excellent English and Italian dictionary (a cheap paperback Italian dictionary will not cut it). Looking up the names of the characters, the translation will give you a window into many of these Southern Commedia characters.

This is a pricey but excellent-valued two-volume set - you get two books, one in English, one in the original Italian. They also include several pages of the original handwritten scenarios. An excellent and important buy for your Commedia dell'Arte Library and I would suggest purchasing it before it goes out of publication.

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Masks and Marionettes
By: Joseph Spencer Kennard
Kennikat Press, Inc.
Published 1935, reissued in 1967
129 pages

If you can find this book, grab it. The Commedia dell'Arte character descriptions are some of the best that I've ever read. Brighella's description is exact and Kennard covers Brighella's many relatives. The women of the Commedia dell'Arte are well covered. You will even find an amazing short, strong monologue, what I assume was a verbal lazzi, by Isabella Andreini going into the relationships of women with young lovers and old men marrying young women. Isabella Andreini does not hold anything back this verbal lazzi.

Kennard covers possible connections that lead up to the Commedia dell'Arte and the relationship with the scenario and elements of Greek plays. He does not shy away from the scatological elements of the Commedia dell'Arte; even covering wild very early Commedia dell'Arte performance before Royalty where the performers were not wearing much.

It is the way in which he presents the facts of the Commedia, with the very accurate character descriptions, scenario, companies, individuals and history, that makes this book a must have. The last chapter covers Marionettes, which is where you will find the closest thing to Commedia dell'Arte today in Italy. This is an excellent book for theatre teachers, directors and Commedia dell'Arte actors.

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Lazzi
The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell'Arte
By Mel Gordon
Published by PAJ Playscripts General, 1983
92 pages

This book is about lazzi and gives lists of lazzi's performed along with the dates, broken into different categories. It is an interesting book and the only one I know of like it covering lazzi as its main topic. It has a simple one-line glossary of characters. This is not the most important book to have but it will help support books above and gives another window in Commedia dell'Arte. It is also not a pricey book, so it is easier to add Lazzi to your collection.

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Gregorio Lambranzi
New and Curious School of
Theatrical Dancing
The classic Illustrated Treatise on Commedia dell'Arte Performance, 1716
137 pages

Many dancers love this book. It includes illustrations with the music and words of Commedia dell'Arte dances performed in Germany in the early 1700's. You can also find various famous lazzi's. The illustrations depicting the actions of the lazzi's that took place on stage with the words and music below the illustrations. This makes up most of the book. It is a unique book and important for any theatre library and can be important not only for actors, directors and teachers but also dancers and musicians.

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The Moving Body
By: Jacques Lecoq with Jean-Gabrel Carasso and Jean-Claude Lallias
Translated by David Bradby, forward by Simon McBurney
Published by: A Theatre Book Routledge NY
First Published in 1997
168 pages

Jacques Lecoq is my teacher and this is his only book. It is not about Commedia dell'Arte, but does have a small section on Commedia dell'Arte. This book is important for everything else it includes especially the mask section. It is an important book for any theatre library just because it is the only work that the master teacher Jacque Lecoq wrote. It is nothing like going to the school in Paris (which I still recommend as the top physical theatre school although there are some others in Europe that look interesting) or studying with excellent teachers trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq. But it is the next best thing. The Moving Body is a very important book if you teach theatre.

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Circus Techniques
By Hovey Burgess
Published by Brain Dube, 1976
7th printing
162 pages, 300 photos

This is the bible of circus technique. I work with Hovey and he is one of the world experts in circus. He has taught circus technique at NYU for over 40 years. Circus Techniques has more than 150 circus stunt techniques, such as acrobatics, balancing, toss juggling (balls, rings, clubs), devil sticks, diabolo, rope spinning, spinning plates, hoop rolling, trapeze, slack rope, tightrope and much more. This book is another must for any well-rounded theatre library. If you have trouble finding it, email me.

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Other books

Italian popular comedy: A study in the commedia dell' arte, 1560-1620
by Kathleen Marguerite Lea
Oxford, The Clarendon press, 1934

I hear wonderful things about this book but it is out of print and I have not been able to get a hold of it. Some Libraries do have this book and it would be worth looking for it. If anyone would like to send me a copy of the book to me, I would be happy to receive it.

Commedia dell'Arte: An Actors Handbook
By John Rudlin
282 pages

Many people like this book and feel it is important to have in your library. After you have all of the above books, then I would buy this one.