Gloria Allaire, Sixteenth Century Studies vol 47:02:2016 ‘Like Seneca’s bees, Professor Schmitt has collected nectar from different species of flowers and skillfully blended it into a most digestible form of honey… This book is a delight to read.’ Rosalind Kerr, Renaissance Quarterly vol 68:04:2014 ‘Schmitt leaves us with a rich dramaturgical document to foster our respect for Scala’s commedia dell’arte… Her deep appreciation of Scala shines through.’ Jenna Soleo-Shank, Comparative Drama vol 49:02:2015 ‘Schmitt’s project challenges the next generation of scholars to see beyond the arbitrary division of textual or cultural history in order to mine the rich material provided in the hundreds of extant commedia scenarios yet to be fully explored.’ The result is a new perspective on the commedia dell’arte that illuminates the style’s full richness. She combines this research with her insights drawn from studying with contemporary commedia dell’arte performers and from directing a production of one of Scala’s scenarios.
In the book, Schmitt makes use of her intensive research into the social and cultural history of sixteenth-century Italy and the aesthetic principles of the period. With Befriending the Commedia dell’Arte of Flaminio Scala, Natalie Crohn Schmitt demolishes that assumption.īy reconstructing the commedia dell’arte scenarios published by troupe manager Flaminio Scala (1547–1624), Schmitt demonstrates that in its Golden Age the commedia dell’arte relied as much on craftsmanship as on improvisation and that Scala’s scenarios are a treasure trove of social commentary on early modern daily life in Italy. Because of its stock characters, improvised dialogue, and extravagant theatricalism, the commedia dell’arte is often assumed to be a superficial comic style. The most important theatrical movement in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Europe, the commedia dell’arte has inspired playwrights, artists, and musicians including Molière, Dario Fo, Picasso, and Stravinsky.
0 kommentar(er)
