The commedia dell'arte, the improvised Italian theatre that dominated the European stage from 1550 to 1750, is arguably the most famous theatre tradition to eme

From Commedia dell’Arte came archetypal characters that are still with us today, such as Harlequin and Pantalone, and the rediscovered craft of writing comic

A history of Italian theatre from its origins to the the time of this book's publication in 2006. The text discusses the impact of all the elements and figures

"The mask - as object, symbol, character, theatrical practice, even spectacle - is the central metaphor around which Fava builds his discussion of structure, th

The Venetian Origins of the Commedia dell'Arte is a striking new enquiry into the late-Renaissance stirrings of professional secular comedy in Venice, and their