Italian Renaissance

Proscenium arch- a.k.a. picture frame, fourth wall, or conventional stage. Still among the best-known types of theater space. Audience sees action through arch, which frames the stage picture. Hides stage mechanisms.

Perspective- Painted backdrops that create the illusion of 3 dimensional depth. Used as early as 1508 for a court performance of Ariosto's "La Cassaria."

Humanism- Focuses on people rather than gods. Study and imitation of of Greeks and Romans. Focused on describing humanity and human powers.

Arlecchino- or Harlequin. Most popular of comic servants. Often wore a patchwork jacket.

Pantalone- a foolish pedant who was always involved in his neighbor's affairs.

Nicoli Machiavelli- Italian author, statesman, and political philosopher. Argued in his book The Prince (1513) that to protect their subjects, rulers must do whatever is necessary and practical- even if it borders on the unethical. Also wrote La Mandragola.

Architettura (1545)- Written by Sebastiano Serlio detailing many of the early methods for creating perspective settings.

La Mandragola- One of the few Italian Renaissance plays still in production today. By Nicoli Machiavelli. It is very reminiscent of Roman New Comedy and reflects the influence on the classical era on the Renaissance.

Capitano: A cowardly braggart soldier, a popular comedia dell arte stock character.

Slapstick: type of comedy or comic business that relies on ridiculous often violent physical activity for its humor.

Pastoral: Idealized dramatization of rural life, often including mythological creatures, popular during the Italian renaissance. They imitated t he greek sayter plays and often dealt with romantic situations. They were not lewd and sexual. They delat with serious actions but they always ended happy

Opera-usually studied as a music form because it is completely sung and dramatic action, mood, and characters are created through song and music. In opera the composer is number 1. It is the only theatrical form from the Italian renaissance to survive.

Dottore- the cowardly, braggart soldier

Zanni- servant, sometimes sly or sometimes foolish

Inamorato- The male lover sometimes wear masks

I Gelosi-name of a commedia company, it means the Zealous

Teatro Farnese- the theatre built by Gaovian Battista Aleotti ,proscenium arch

Raked- stages sloped upwards away from the audience. This is known as a "rake" or "raked stage" and improves the view for the audience. Also rake can mean : To position scenery at a slant or angle other than parallel or perpendicular to the curtain line.

Giacomo Torelli (1608-1678) was the most important set designer of the middle of the seventeenth century. Born in 1608 in the town of Fano, the year of Giulio Parigi’s work on Il Giudizio di Paride in Florence, Torelli was of noble birth. His work in stage design was extensively engraved and hence survives as the most complete record of mid-to-late seventeenth century set design.

Sebastiano Serlio (September 6, 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise.

Lodovico Castelvetro (c.1505-1571) was an important figure in the development of neo-classicism, especially in drama. It was his reading of Aristotle that led to a widespread adoption of a tight version of the Three Unities, as a dramatic standard.His supposed involvement in translation of Protestant texts caused him trouble with the Church. He was labelled a heretic in 1557, and lived in exile from his native Italy (he was born near Modena)

Pit- Floor of the house in a traditional procenium-arch theatre. The pit was originally a standing area; later backless benches were added.

Commedia Dell'arte- Form of comic theatre, originating in Italy in the 16th century, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario involving a set of stock characters, each with a distinctive costume and traditional name.

Verisimilitude- One of the most imporant ideals of the neoclassicists. It means: all drama was to be "true to life."

Decorum- All dramatic characters should behave in ways based on their age, profession, sex, rank, and the like.

Intermezzi-Entertainments performed between the acts of opera and full-length plays.

Lazzi-Comic pieces of business repeatedlly used by commedia dell' arte characters.