More Commedia Info
Simple Character List
Arlecchino (Harlequin)
- Role: Servant (Zanni, 2nd class)
- Traits: Agile, mischievous, inventive, impulsive, food-obsessed
- Costume: Patchwork of brightly colored diamonds, black half-mask
- Movement: Acrobatic, quick, animalistic (often based on a cat or monkey)
- Voice: High-pitched, singsong, playful
- Motivation: Hunger and desire for fun; serves a master but often with self-interest in mind
- Relationships: Often paired with Columbina, in love or rivalry; clashes with Brighella and Pulcinella
Pulcinella (Punchinello)
- Role: Servant (Zanni, 1st class)
- Traits: Sarcastic, lazy but sharp-witted, crude, contradictory (cruel and tender)
- Costume: White baggy outfit, black mask with long nose, humpback
- Movement: Stooped, erratic, often pecks like a bird
- Voice: Gravelly, nasal, mocking
- Motivation: Pleasure, self-preservation, chaos
- Relationships: Often rivals Arlecchino; may comment on the action like a cynical observer
Brighella
- Role: Servant (Zanni, 1st class)
- Traits: Sly, manipulative, smooth-talking, schemer, sometimes sinister
- Costume: Green and white stripes, dagger, half-mask
- Movement: Controlled, calculating, catlike
- Voice: Smooth, persuasive, possibly accented
- Motivation: Money, power, control
- Relationships: Serves upper-class characters; manipulates other servants like Arlecchino or Columbina
Pantalone
- Role: Master (Vecchi)
- Traits: Wealthy, miserly, lecherous, proud, easily fooled
- Costume: Red tights, black cape, codpiece, beaked mask
- Movement: Hunched, quick, birdlike (chicken or turkey)
- Voice: High and nasal; Venetian accent
- Motivation: Money, control over family and business
- Relationships: Often the father of Isabella, trying to marry her off for financial gain
Il Dottore (The Doctor)
- Role: Master (Vecchi)
- Traits: Bombastic, verbose, learned but foolish, parody of academia
- Costume: Long black academic robe, round belly padding, half-mask
- Movement: Grand, slow, often stationary and gesturing wildly
- Voice: Overly formal, uses mangled Latin and fake intellectual phrases
- Motivation: Desire to show off his intelligence and superiority
- Relationships: Friend or rival to Pantalone; father to Flavio or other young lovers
Columbina
- Role: Maid (Servetta)
- Traits: Intelligent, grounded, flirtatious, street-smart, independent
- Costume: Simple maid’s outfit, sometimes an apron, no mask or a small one
- Movement: Graceful yet practical, confident
- Voice: Sharp, quick, teasing
- Motivation: Love, loyalty (but only to those who deserve it), fun
- Relationships: Often in love with Arlecchino or helps the lovers unite
Il Capitano (The Captain)
- Role: Outsider (Miles Gloriosus)
- Traits: Braggart, cowardly, full of self-importance, foreigner
- Costume: Military uniform with exaggerated medals, sword, feathered hat
- Movement: Bold, chest out, over-the-top strutting
- Voice: Loud, boasts in other languages or gibberish
- Motivation: To impress and seduce; to escape conflict when challenged
- Relationships: Tries to woo Isabella; often humiliated by servants
Isabella
- Role: Lover (Innamorata)
- Traits: Romantic, intelligent, passionate, expressive
- Costume: Elegant gown, unmasked or lightly masked
- Movement: Poised, expressive, flowing
- Voice: Clear, emotional, poetic
- Motivation: Love, freedom from controlling parents
- Relationships: In love with Flavio or another Innamorato; daughter of Pantalone or Dottore
Flavio
- Role: Lover (Innamorato)
- Traits: Handsome, poetic, dramatic, idealistic
- Costume: Fashionable outfit, no mask
- Movement: Romantic, often melodramatic
- Voice: Sincere, musical, emotional
- Motivation: Pure love, often willing to die for it
- Relationships: In love with Isabella, rivalled by Capitano
The Innamorati (The Lovers)
- Role: Romantic leads
- Traits: Youthful, passionate, emotional, naïve but sincere
- Costume: Lavish period clothes, no masks
- Movement: Elegant, over-the-top in love
- Voice: Musical, often speak in verse or heightened language
- Motivation: To be together, often opposed by the Vecchi
- Relationships: Central to most plots; aided or hindered by the Zanni
Zanni (General Servants)
- Role: Comic servants
- Traits: Foolish, hungry, curious, loyal but unreliable
- Costume: Simple peasant clothes, floppy hats, full or half masks
- Movement: Exaggerated, bumbling or agile depending on rank
- Voice: Regional dialects or gibberish
- Motivation: Survival, food, fun
- Relationships: Serve the Vecchi; manipulate situations to their advantage
La Ruffiana
- Role: Gossipy old woman
- Traits: Nosy, interfering, flirtatious despite her age, greedy
- Costume: Overdressed, often over-painted makeup, bonnet or veil
- Movement: Sneaky, twitchy, energetic for her age
- Voice: Raspy, croaky, shrill
- Motivation: To control young lovers and profit from marriages
- Relationships: Advisor/confidante to Vecchi; antagonist to young lovers
These are just some of the core Commedia dell’Arte characters, and many variations and adaptations exist. Commedia dell’Arte performances often involve improvisation and physical comedy, with actors drawing on these character archetypes to create humorous and entertaining scenarios.
Arlecchino
Servant masks such as Arlecchino were often the main attraction of the troupe. Fun-loving, mischievous, constantly moving animal-like beings with an attention span of about 30 seconds. Zanni, as a group of characters, is not malicious. They are poor, crude folk from the hills curious about the world’s ways and inevitably, they create havoc.
Pulcinella
Pulcinella has been best described as the “runt of the litter”. Ugly and hunchbacked, he is a scrappy servant who is also a complete egotist. He can be played stupid, pretending to be clever, or clever, pretending to be silly.
Brighella
This valet is big, crafty, bold and unscrupulous, a cynical liar who looks out only for himself. An animal of prey is his appropriate identification. Brighella has flair; he steals but is not an ordinary snatch-grab, for he will execute theft ingeniously. He never has any money that he diddles out of others since he drinks it up and then sleeps it off.
Tartaglia
The ‘Stammerer’. He is my old friend of Pantalone. A Zanni can be a servant or a small tradesman.
Pantalone
This valet is big, crafty, bold and unscrupulous, a cynical liar who looks out only for himself. An animal of prey is his appropriate identification. Brighella has flair; he steals but is not an ordinary snatch-grab, for he will execute theft ingeniously. He never has any money that he diddles out of others since he drinks it up, then sleeps it off.
Il Dottore
It is said to be from Bologna, the city famous for gastronomy and the University. He claims to be an expert, but he is not. He hopes the audience is ignorant, so no one will know that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. The nose is wide, and the brow is heavy to make the eyes look close together and assist the actor in creating a ‘look of doubt’.
Il Capitano
Is a soldier without a particular rank the image of a brave hero? He is a poor man who wants to be rich and famous, but when there is a real danger, he runs like a coward. This mask is usually grotesque, comic, obscene and has a fixed function of always complicating the story.