Dell'Arte - Official Site - Commedia dell'Arte

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Presented by the first-year students

Thursday - Saturday, Feb. 4-6

8pm, Carlo Theatre

Guaranteed to get you laughing, this parade of human folly exhibits the excesses of appetites and passions. Using characters both traditional and contemporary, with music and acrobatics, this lively form and its masked archetypes has crossed the ocean and four centuries to entertain and amuse. Lovers, thieves, irate fathers, non-stop talkers, posers, zanies, and charlatans make up the colorful cast of characters.

A physical celebration of rhythm, attitude and improvisational madness, Commedia dell’Arte pushes passions to the extreme. The characters, defined by the mask, require a level of play from the performer where the body is fully engaged, alive and always playful.

For mature audiences.

Run time: approx. one hour

Directed by Stephanie Thompson

May not be appropriate for young audiences.

Commedia is a 600-year old theater form that is often bawdy, scatological and body-based in its humor. These performances include enlarged body parts, malfunction of digestive and eliminative systems, gross occurrences and vulgarity. It will be offensive to many. Be warned.

Show Dates