Lazzi

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Lazzi ( /ˈlɑːtsi/ ; from the Italian lazzo, a joke or witticism) 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. [1] [2] 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. [3] [4]

Contents

Lazzi could be completed by a single player (e.g. the Lazzo of the School of Humanity wherein a Zanni character would announce that his sister was running a "school of humanity" from their home because she was a prostitute), a few individuals (e.g. the Lazzo of the Straw wherein a stock character of higher status would pour wine as his servant emptied it through a straw), or the entire troupe (e.g. the Lazzo of Nightfall wherein the entire troupe would stumble onto stage to enact hapless physical sequences as though the room was pitch black). [3] [5] While its placement in the plot was usually fixed during rehearsals, it was acceptable for an actor to unexpectedly utter a predetermined line of dialogue that instructed fellow performers to enact lazzi at any time during the performance. Sometimes lazzi could take place in dances or songs accompanied by onstage stringed musical instruments. [6]

History

17th and 18th century Italy

Evidence of lazzi's conventionalization within the Italian commedia dell'arte includes visual iconography, paintings, fragmented writings, and personal manuscripts from prominent 16th and 17th century dramatists and actors. One of the earliest accounts can be found in the work of Flaminio Scala, who listed 30 instances of lazzi, though the word "lazzi" was not yet used. [7] [8] Nearly a century later, Andrea Petrucci described lazzi as a fixture of commedia in The Art of The Rehearsal Performance and Improvisation. In Selva over zibaldone di concetti comic raccolti dal P.D. Placidio, Adriani di Lucca provides a list of lazzi from a manuscript that is one of the few extant and intact accounts of lazzi from 17th and 18th century Italy. The manuscript is currently held at the Library in Perugia. [3] Most recently, Mel Gordon compiled a comprehensive collection of lazzi performed by commedia troupes between 1550 and 1750, and organized the descriptions into twelve categories that include 'acrobatic and mimic' as well as 'violence/sadistic behavior' lazzi. [5]

In addition, visual iconography from the 17th and 18th century depicts elements of lazzi that often portray what would have been considered vulgar physical acts (i.e. a doctor administering an enema as seen in the image), though few of the written accounts describe such content. It has been proposed that the marked lack of documentation may be, in part, an attempt to evade rising censorship by authorities, especially in the case of Parisian Comédie-Italienne under the rule of Louis XIV, who threatened troupes with the revocation of royal subsidies should their material be deemed subversive. [8] In some cases, his censorship resulted in a troupe's expulsion from the country. Others theorize that lazzi often went undocumented so that it could not be imitated by competing troupes, as routines could not be patented. [3] Also, it has been suggested that because of the oral and physical nature of the training, as well as the inbred legacy of performers within the troupe, there was less of a need to have written explanations of lazzi. [9]

Elizabethan and Jacobean England

While the direct influence of Italy's commedia dell'arte on the England's Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre is subject to much debate, verbal and visual lazzi were present in the plays of William Shakespeare. [10] Shakespeare's work implies a familiarity with Italian literature and theatrical practices, though it is not certain that he ever experienced a commedia performance firsthand. [11] It is as likely that Richard Tarlton served as the inspiration for Shakespeare's plays, as well as the lazzi of Italian commedia. [12] Verbal lazzi were used in the form of puns, proverbs, and malapropisms, while instances of physical lazzi were abundant, especially in the work of Shakespeare's clowns, whose improvisations during performances often vexed the playwright. [13] [14]

1920s and modern lazzi

More recent appropriations of lazzi include the 1920s silent films of Charlie Chaplin, the silent/sound films and stage productions of Laurel and Hardy, and Punch and Judy puppet shows. While many similarities exist, a few parallels can be drawn in the use of pratfalls, fright jumps, and physical settings that enable the use of objects to perform the comedy. One popular comparison is Charlie Chaplin's cane to Arlecchino, or the Harlequin's stick when used as a comedic device. [15]

Examples

Two commedia dell'arte performers using a clyster Two Commedia dell'arte street entertainers using a clyster a Wellcome L0006477.jpg
Two commedia dell'arte performers using a clyster

The following list contains a few examples of 17th and 18th century lazzi that were found in the notes and manuscripts of actors and dramatists. [3] [5] The term "lazzo" refers to lazzi in the singular:

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References

  1. ↑ Boyd, Timothy W. (2012-08-01). "Memory on Canvas: Commedia dell'Arte as a Model for Homeric Performance". Oral Tradition. 26 (2). doi:10.1353/ort.2011.0025. hdl: 10355/65243 . ISSN   1542-4308. S2CID   162185511.
  2. ↑ Smith, Winifred (1912). The Commedia Dell'arte: A Study in Italian Popular Comedy. Columbia University Press. pp. 5–10. ISBN   9780742643543.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Garfein, Herschel; Gordon, Mel; Turci, Gennaro (1978-01-01). "The Adriani Lazzi of the Commedia Dell'Arte". The Drama Review: TDR. 22 (1): 3–12. doi:10.2307/1145163. JSTOR   1145163.
  4. ↑ Smith, Winifred (1912). The Commedia Dell'arte: A Study in Italian Popular Comedy. The Columbia University Press. pp. 5–10.
  5. 1 2 3 Gordon, Mel (1983). Lazzi: The Comic Routines of the Commedia Dell'arte . Performing Arts Journal Publications. ISBN   9780933826694.
  6. ↑ Oreglia, Giacomo (1968). The Commedia dell'Arte. New York: Dramabook. pp. 11–12. ISBN   0-8090-0545-X. The lazzi were stage jests in mime or words, sometimes even in dances (sarabands, pavanes, galliards, bergamasques, chaconnes and the like) and songs (strambotti- short rounds in folk style, frottole- popular songs, arias, canzoni) accompanied by musical instruments such as the guitar, the theorbo, the flute, the Neapolitan lute and the mandola or small lute.
  7. ↑ Steele, Eugene (1976). "Verbal Lazzi in Shakespeare's Plays". Italica. 53 (2): 14–142. doi:10.2307/478086. JSTOR   478086.
  8. 1 2 Zarilli, Phillip B.; McConchie, Bruce; Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher (2010). Williams, Gary Jay (ed.). Theatre Histories: An Introduction (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN   9780415227278.
  9. ↑ Selfridge-Field, Eleanor (2004). "La Commedia dell'Arte in Naples: A Bilingual Edition of the 176 Casamarciano Scenarios/La commedia dell'arte a Napoli: edizione bilingue dei 176 scenari Casamarciano (review)". Music and Letters. 85: 436–437. doi:10.1093/ml/85.3.436.
  10. ↑ Steele, Eugene (1976). "Verbal Lazzi in Shakespeare's Plays". Italica. 53 (2): 214–222. doi:10.2307/478086. JSTOR   478086.
  11. ↑ Levith, Murray J.; Johnson-Haddad, Miranda (1992). "Review: [Untitled]". Shakespeare Quarterly. 43: 253–257. doi:10.2307/2870897. JSTOR   2870897.
  12. ↑ Fever, Charles S. (1963). "The Commedia Dell'art and the English Drama in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries". Renaissance Drama, A Report on Research Opportunities. 6: 24–34. doi:10.1086/renadramreporese.6.43264648. S2CID   191385855.
  13. ↑ Steele, Eugene (1977). "Shakespeare, Goldoni, and the Clowns". Comparative Drama. 11 (3): 209–226. doi:10.1353/cdr.1977.0027. JSTOR   41152748.
  14. ↑ Schmitt, Natalie (2014). Befriending the Commedia dell'Arte of Flaminio Scala: The Comic Scenarios. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   978-1442648999.
  15. ↑ Madden, David (1968). "Harlequin's Stick, Charlie's Cane". Film Quarterly. 22 (1): 10–26. doi:10.2307/1210036. JSTOR   1210036.
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