The precursor to a pie in the face

Catherine Amos
Published: February 15, 2008

Here's a piece of trivia you might not have realized: the tragic characters of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are rooted in an ancient form of Italian improvisational comedy.

nown as Commedia dell' Arte (which translates as comedy of the actors guild), the Italian origins of improv stem from a set of five stock characters or archetypes, including irrational young lovers, a harlequin and a braggart soldier.

To better teach her students about Commedia dell' Arte, Culpeper County High School drama teacher Maggie Lawrence hired improv guru Scott Pafumi, a drama teacher at Westview High School in Fairfax County, to lead a workshop for her classes.

Pafumi commanded the large group of potentially rowdy high schoolers like a convincing hypnotist. Per his slapstick and verbal orders, the drama students gathered in a large circle and slowly evolved into each of the archetypes. Soon the scene erupted into a stage of seemingly disorganized madness before calmly returning to normalcy upon Pafumi's countdown.

For each role, Pafumi would call out suggestions to bring each participant into the full extension of the character. For the Zanni, or harlequin, he asked students to start walking strangely, hunched over, because the harlequin was not a stand-up citizen. Before long, the circle was teeming with crazed jokers, jumping around like feeding monkeys.

"And that's a day in the life of a servant," Pafumi said.
According to Pafumi, there are three keys to Commedia dell' Arte: give of yourself, take risks, and resist interaction with others in order to remain in character. Before participating, he asked the students to remove any flashy jewelry or necklaces to help the evolution process.

With his slapstick, he froze the students and announced further commands to guide the character development.

"It's amazing how connected you can all feel when you're acting the same character," he said.

Because improv is Pafumi's forte, Lawrence invited him as a guest speaker because of the importance of this type of comedy to acting.

"It's a very basic form of comedy that you see in everything today like Seinfeld or any physical comedy," she said. "It's unlike what I teach; this is pure, physical, out there, in-your-face kind of comedy."

After the class became each of the stock characters, Pafumi asked them to pair up and perform a vignette in "Italian gibberish" to demonstrate what they learned. Italian gibberish is exactly what it sounds like - nonsense words made to sound like Italian so that the actors need not dialogue with one another, but instead physically act out the scene.

"This is the first time we've done it," said senior Karina Platt. "It was so much fun to see what it's supposed to look like and having the knowledge of getting into the character. For this, you have to show your emotions on the outside, big and huge."
The students acknowledged that for non-drama students, it could be uneasy to get into such a ridiculous and silly character, but because they practice it regularly, they enjoyed the fun.

"You just don't care what people think of you and you just go out there and have fun," said junior Michael Bertone.
Sophomore Michael Smith agreed.

"It would be hard if you're not used to letting yourself go, but it gets easy after awhile and fun, really," Smith said.

The key to improv characters- Whatever happens, say "yes," Pafumi and Lawrence encouraged, and go with the flow.

Pafumi wrapped the workshop with a performance from his traveling troupe of four seniors from Westview High School, acting as each of the archetypes in a Romeo and Juliet-esque plot. The exaggerated physical movements and Italian gibberish displayed the cornerstones of Commedia dell' Arte, and the class enjoyed every minute of it, shouting their praises to the troupe.

"I'm about acting, but this is a big part of a form of acting," Lawrence said. "You can't go through theatre and not know about this, and that's why I wanted to have him here."

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .

What is it-
Archetypes of Commedia dell' Arte, according to improv guru Scott Pafumi

Zanni is evolved from the court jester and plays the servant. Can be played either as tricky and wise or foolish and stupid. Costumes comprise bright colors, diamond patterns and loose white shirts for males; aprons, big dresses and bonnets for females.

Pantalone is an elderly parent or guardian, often very wealthy and the villain. Wears dark gown or cloak with a cane.

Dottore is a crony of Pantalone. Wealthy and educated professor-type, gullible. Lacks social sense. Wears spectacles and the latest fashions incorrectly.

Capitano plays the braggart soldier. He boasts of his abilities but is ultimately a coward. Wears loose pants, a baggy shirt, boots and a sword.

Anamorates play the young lovers, full of emotion and passion, yet highly irrational. Dressed in the latest youthful fashions, mostly in white, like cherubs.