The Atellan Farce (Latin: Atellanae Fabulae or Fabulae Atellanae,[1] "favola atellana";[2]Atellanicum exhodium, "Atella comedies"[3]), also known as the Oscan Games (Latin: ludi Osci, "Oscan plays"), were masked improvised farces in Ancient Rome.[4] The Oscan athletic games were very popular, and usually preceded by longer pantomime plays.[5] The origin of the Atellan Farce is uncertain, but the farces are similar to other forms of ancient theatre such as the South Italian Phlyakes, the plays of Plautus and Terence, and Roman mime.[6] Most historians believe the name is derived from Atella, an Oscan town in Campania.[7][8][9] The farces were written in Oscan and imported to Rome in 391 BC. In later Roman versions, only the ridiculous characters speak their lines in Oscan, while the others speak in Latin.
The Atellan Farce was a masked farce that originated in Italy by 300 B.C.and remained popular for more than 500 years. Originally, the farces were improvised and not recorded.[6] Evidence of the original forms is scarce, primarily found in the depictions of scenes and characters on ancient vases.[6]
The extant literary evidence contains only fragments of the Atellan Farce with 400 lines and the titles of approximately 115 farces are recorded from the first century BC by the dramatists Lucius Pomponius and Quintus Novius.[6] With the evidence that does remain, historians believe the plays were between 300 and 400 lines and lasted from 15 to 28 minutes.[6]
Surviving titles indicate that the Atellana or short sketches were meant to entertain the audience on holidays and market days. The names of some of these extant titles include The Farmer, The She-goat, The Woodpile and The Vine-Gatherers.[10] While the actors in Atellan Farce were known to be Oscan, evidence of language-switching from Oscan to Latin is evident in a literary Atellana.[11] We can also surmise that the plots of the sketches included ridiculous situations consisting of puns, horseplay and riddles of a vulgar and crude nature.[12]
Maccus – Believed derived from either the Greek term makkoan, meaning "to be stupid" or the Greek prefix mac-, that denotes greed.[6] The character Maccus makes the most appearances of all stock characters in the works of Pomponius and Novius and includes the play Maccus The Maid where confusion ensues from "twin subjects."[6] Maccus was a most popular clown and the leading character in many Atellan plays[6] including The Fool, as a hunchback with a beak nose.[13][14]
Buccus – Although the origin of this name is not definitely known, the Latin word bucca, meaning "cheek" or "mouth" is a common consideration.[6] and implies a "country booby" [14] "fat- cheeked, gluttonous braggart."[6]
Manducus – Deriving from the Latin for "The chewer", Manducus is a hypothesized stock character that does not appear in any of the surviving titles[15] Possibly Manducus and Dossennus are the same character and Manducus is simply the description for Dossennus.[6] as the arrogant soldier.[14]
Pappus – The name is considered derived from the Greek pappos meaning "grandfather."[6] Pappus was easy to deceive, often falling victim to either his daughter or wife. The character appears in five extant plays. Pappus is the only character from Atellan Farce that has a name of Oscan origin as the old man.[16][6][14]
Dossennus – The origin of the name Dossennus is believed to have originated from the word dorsum or "back" as the character was hump-backed[6] as the pompous doctor[14] or "hump backed, crafty cheat."[17]
The characters may have connections to similar roles in Commedia dell'arte and Punch and Judy. Both Atellan Farce and Commedia were improvised masked comedies. Stock characters in Atellan Farce are speculated as the beginnings of the Commedia dell'arte stock characters. For example, theorized character progressions include:
However, these connections remain speculative and are contested in ongoing research.[23] There are similarities between Punch and the Commedia dell'arte character Pulcinella. However, there is no consensus that Punch's derivation can be traced back to Pulcinella.[24][25] The character Cicirrus, the Oscan word for "gamecock", is thought to be a stock character.[26]
Authorship
The subjects and characters were decided upon just before the performance began and the dialogue was improvised. The performers were the sons of Roman citizens who were allowed to serve in the army: professional actors were excluded. The simple prose dialogues were supplemented by songs in Saturnian metre, the common language, accompanied by lively gesticulation. The plays were characterized by coarseness and obscenity.[27] Atellan play acting contained much pantomiming. All roles were played by males.[6] The plays did not have elaborate scenery and were performed in normal theaters.[28]
Atellan plays first became popular in Rome in the 3rd century B.C, with a revived popularity in literary form in the 1st century B.C.[6] and included the stock characters in written verse.[6]
Later, the dictator Sulla wrote some Atellan Fables. The dramatist Quintus Novius, who lived and wrote 50 years after the abdication of Sulla, wrote fifty fables, including Macchus Exul (Exiled Macchus), Gallinaria (The Henhouse), Surdus (The Deaf One), Vindemiatores (The Harvesters), and Parcus (The Treasurer). When the Atellan plays were revived in the 1st century B.C. professional actors were no longer excluded from playing the stock characters' roles.[29]
Lucius Pomponius of Bologna, influenced by Palliata Fabius Dorsennus composed several Atellan plays, including Macchus Miles (Macchus the Soldier), Pytho Gorgonius, Pseudoagamemnon, Bucco Adoptatus, and Aeditumus. Quintus Novius and a "Memmius" also authored these comedies. Ovid and Pliny the Younger found the work of Memmius to be indecent.
Pomponius is speculated to be the "founder" of the Atellan Farce plays.[6]
Taken from Tacitus (Annals, Book 14): "...after various and often fruitless complaints from the praetors, the emperor Tiberius finally brought forward a motion about the licentious behavior of the players. "They had often," he said "sought to disturb the public peace, and to bring disgrace on private families, and the old Oscan farce, once a wretched amusement for the vulgar, had become at once so indecent and popular, that it must be checked by the Senate's authority. The players, upon this, were banished from Italy".
Suetonius (Tiberius, 45, 1) reports that Tiberius himself was mocked for his lecherous habits in an Atellan farce, after which the saying "the old goat lapping up the doe" (hircum vetulum capreis naturam ligurire) became popular.
In the 20s AD, the growth in popularity and revival of the Atellan plays was met with the disapproval of an older generation of patricians and senators. The performances became so obnoxious that, in 28 AD, all who performed in the farces were banished from Italy.[30]
Due to the outlandish nature and brevity that the Atellan Farces are believed to have, they are comparable to the sketches that one would see on a variety show such as Saturday Night Live or Whose Line Is It Anyway?[32] Oftentimes the improvised play would center on an uncomplicated situation such as eating too much, becoming intoxicated or stealing.[32] Such as in popular television shows as Saturday Night Live and Whose Line Is It Anyway, they would include adult content and done for the entertainment of others.[32]
Fragments of the Atellan Fables can be found in the Poetarum latinorum scen. fragmenta, Leipzig, 1834
Maurice Meyer, Sur les Atellanes; Manheim, 1826, in-8°;
C. E. Schober, Über die Atellanen, Leipzig, 1825, in-8°;
M. Meyer, Etudes sur le théâtre latin, Paris, 1847, in-8°.
Jürgen Blänsdorf “Atellana fabula”, in: Brill's New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Consulted online on 21 July 2017
The works of Pomponius and Novius can be found in
Otto Ribbeck, Comicorum Romanorum praeter Plautum et Terentium Fragmenta
↑ Oreglia, Giacomo (1968). The Commedia dell'Arte. New York: Hill and Wang. p.78. ...the Pappus of Atella comedies
↑ Smith, Winifred (1964). The Commedia Dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Blom. p.26. Atellnae were farces marked by improvisation and masked personages,
↑ Duchartre, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: Dover Publications, INC. pp.25. ISBN9780486216799. They were later called Exodiae, because they were often given at the end of the performance.
↑ Duchartre, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: Dover Publications, INC. pp.25. ISBN9780486216799. The ancient city of Atella, now known as Aversa, was one of the first to have a theatre, in fact.
↑ Ducharte, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: Dover Publications INC. p.25. When performed in Rome they were called Atellanae, which became their accepted name.
↑ W Beare "Quintilian VI lii 47 and the Fabula Atellana" The Classical Review, vol 51, no 06, 1937, pp 215- 218
↑ W Beare "Quintilian VI lii 47 and the Fabula Atellana" The Classical Review, vol 51, no 06, 1937, pp 213- 215
↑ J Adams "A Passage of Varro, De Lingva Latina and An Oscan Fragmen of Atellan Farce." Mnemosyne, vol 57, no3, 2004, pp 352- 358
↑ Smith, Winifred (1964). The Commedia Dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Bloom. p.22. A grotesque statuette representing a beak-nosed, hunchbacked individual, was unearthed at Herculaneum in 1727, which by a slight stretch of imagination could be identified with Maccus
1 2 3 4 5 6 Byrom, Michael (1972). Punch and Judy: Its Origin and Evolution. Aberdeen: Shiva Publications. p.4. ISBN0902982028. There was the old man (Pappus), the old woman, the comic slave (Centunculus), the country booby (Buccus), the arrogant soldier (Manducus), the pompous doctor (Dossenus), and the sharp-tongued hooked nosed hunchback (Maccus).
↑ J.Trapido The John Hopkis University Press, Educational Theatre Journal
↑ P. Hartnoll, P. Found, Oxford University Press, The Oxford Concise Companion to The Theatre
↑ J. Trapido, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Educational Theatre Journal
↑ Duchartre, Peirre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: Dover Publications, INC. pp.17. ISBN9780486216799. The ancestor of Pantaloon, and his son Harpagon, is Pappus, the lecherous old miser of the Antellane
↑ Oreglia, Giacomo (1968). The Commedia dell'Arte. New York: Hill and Wang. p.78. In the ancient theatre the characters which recall this Mask are those of the various old men of Aristophanes, Plautus, Terence, and the Pappus of the Atella comedies
↑ Duchartre, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: The Dover Publications, INC. pp.18. ISBN9780486216799. The cradle of the family was the ancient city of Atella, in the Roman Campangna, and the gallery of ancestors shows, among others Bucco and the sensual Maccus, whose lean figure and cowardly nature reappear in Pulcinella
↑ Duchartre, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. Dover Publication, INC. pp.29. ISBN9780486216799. Pulcinella was always dressed in white like Maccus, the mimus albus, or white mime
↑ Duchartre, Pierre (1966). The Italian Comedy. New York: The Dover Publications, INC. pp.18. ISBN9780486216799. Next there is the ogre Manducus, the Miles Glorious in the plays of Plautus, who is later metamorphosed into the swaggering Captain, or Captain.
↑ Smith, Winifred (1964). The Commedia Dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Blom. p.21. page 21 Not a little nonsense has been written about the "evolution" of the commedai dell'arte. Of the three main theories that attempt to account for our farces the hoariest and most outgrown is that concerning their putative Roman father, surely a ghost that by now ought to be permately laid.
↑ Smith, Winifred (1964). The Commedia Dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Blom. p.23. The identification of the statuette with a future in the Mimes or even with a stage character at all is very uncertain, nor is it safe to press its resemblance to the English Punch; there is no doubt that it looks like Punch but this, I think, is vest explained by the fame of the figure at the time of its discovery and by the influence of its peculiarities on the face and figure of the English villain-clown.
↑ Byrom, Michael (1972). Punch and Judy: Its Origin and Evolution. Aberbeen: Shiva Publications. p.5. ISBN0902982028. In 1662, Pulcinella crossed the English Channel and became 'Punchinello' later to be known simply as Punch.
↑ J. Trapido The Johns Hopkins University Press, Educational Theatre Press
Harlequin is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585, and became a stock character after Martinelli's death in 1630.
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". 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 character. The longer the nose on the characters mask, the more foolish the character.
Brighella 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 batocio or slapstick, 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 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.
La Ruffiana is an older female character of the Commedia dell'Arte with a shady past or who used to be a prostitute. She is used most often in relationship to the vecchi of which group she is a nominal member. Ruffiana is most often romantically involved with Pantalone, though his love may easily be unrequited if it suits the plot. She is generally described as being talkative/gossipy, sneaky, and mischievous, but deep down is actually kind. She has been described as an "outsider" that always mixes things up and causes trouble for the rest of the characters. "Her quips reek of garlic"
Innamorati were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th-century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the lovers in some regard. These dramatic and posh characters were present within commedia plays for the sole purpose of being in love with one another, and moreover, with themselves. These characters move elegantly and smoothly, and their young faces are unmasked unlike other commedia dell'arte characters. Despite facing many obstacles, the lovers were always united by the end.
Lazzi are stock comedic routines that are associated with commedia dell'arte. Performers, especially those playing the masked Arlecchino, had many examples of this in their repertoire, and would use improvisatory skills to weave them into the plot of dozens of different commedia scenarios. These largely physical sequences could be improvised or preplanned within the performance and were often used to enliven the audience when a scene was dragging, to cover a dropped line or cue, or to delight an expectant audience with the troupe's specialized lazzi.
The Osci were an Italic people of Campania and Latium adiectum before and during Roman times. They spoke the Oscan language, also spoken by the Samnites of Southern Italy. Although the language of the Samnites was called Oscan, the Samnites were never referred to as Osci, nor were the Osci called Samnites.
Il Dottore, most commonly known in Italian as Dottor Balan or simply Balanzone, is a commedia dell'arte stock character, in one scenario being an obstacle to young lovers. Il Dottore and Pantalone are the comic foils of each other, Pantalone being the decadent wealthy merchant, and il Dottore being the decadent erudite. He has been part of the main canon of characters since the mid-16th century.
Pulcinella is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept the character popular in countless forms since his introduction to commedia dell'arte by Silvio Fiorillo in 1620.
Isabella is a stock character used in commedia dell'arte, in the class of innamorata. In the commedia dell'arte, the relationship of the innamorati, or lovers, is often threatened by the vecchi characters, but they are reunited in the end. In his 1929 book The Italian Comedy, Pierre Louis Duchartre writes that Isabella changed from being mainly tender and loving in the 16th century to a more flirtatious and strong-willed woman with a "lively, picturesque wit" by the end of the 17th century.
Pedrolino is a primo ('first') Zanni, or comic servant, of the commedia dell'arte; the name is a hypocorism of Pedro ('Peter'), via the suffix -lino. The character made its first appearance in the last quarter of the 16th century, apparently as the invention of the actor with whom the role was to be long identified, Giovanni Pellesini. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers constituted "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", and his Bergamasque dialect marked him as a member of the "low" rustic class. But if his costume and social station were without distinction, his dramatic role was certainly not: as a multifaceted first Zanni, his character was—and still is—rich in comic incongruities.
Mezzetino or Mezzettino 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 ' in Medieval Italian, and he is sometimes called in French and English plays "Mezzetin". He first appeared in the 16th century.
Burattino, also Burrattino or Burratino, is a minor commedia dell'arte character of the Zanni class.
I Gelosi was an Italian acting troupe that performed commedia dell'arte from 1569 to 1604. Their name stems form their motto: Virtù, fama ed honor ne fèr gelosi, long thought to mean "Virtue, fame and honour made us jealous", or "We are jealous of attaining virtue, fame, and honour", signifying that such rewards could only be attained by those who sought for them jealously. Modern reevaluations have considered "zealous" as a more accurate translation over "jealous", redefining their motto to signify that, as actors, they were zealous to please.
Petrushka is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. It was first introduced by traveling Italian performers in the first third of the 19th century during a period of Westernization in Russian culture. While most core characters came from Italy, they were soon transformed by the addition of material from the Russian cultural context.' Petrushkas are traditionally hand puppets. The character is a kind of a jester, a slapstick protagonist distinguished by his red dress, a red kolpak, and often a long nose.
A phlyax play, also known as a hilarotragedy, was a burlesque dramatic form that developed in the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in the 4th century BC. From the surviving fragments and titles of the plays, they appear to have been a form of mythological burlesque, which mixed figures from the Greek pantheon with the stock characters and situations of Attic New Comedy.
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 commedia alla maschera, commedia improvviso, and commedia dell'arte all'improvviso. Characterized by masked "types", commedia was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A commedia, such as The Tooth Puller, is both scripted and improvised. Characters' entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of commedia is the lazzo, a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of commedia is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin.
Caterina Biancolelli (1665–1716) was an Italian actress in the commedia dell'arte style of theater. She was one of the earliest actresses to play the role of Colombina, and one of the most famous.
Flaminio Scala, commonly known by his stage name Flavio, was an Italian stage actor of commedia dell'arte, scenario writer, playwright, director, producer, manager, agent, and editor. Considered one of the most important figures in Renaissance theatre, Scala is remembered today as the author of the first published collection of commedia scenarios, Il Teatro delle Favole Rappresentative, short comic plays that served as inspiration to playwrights such as Lope de Vega, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Molière.
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.
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