Publisher Description

In this classic study of the Commedia dell 'Arte, printed in several editions and languages since its first publication in 1963, one of Allardyce Nicoll's chief concerns is to show how and why the figure of Harlequin came to predominate among recognised stage types. Tracing the history and influence of the Commedia, he also focuses on the characters of Punch, Pantaloon, Zany, Pierrot, Columbine, and Scaramouche.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; 1. Prologue - Hamlet and Harlequin; 2. The comedy of skill; 3. The four masks; 4. The rest of the cast; 5. The comic scene; 6. Triumph and decline; 7. Epilogue; 8. Bibliography; 9. Notes; 10. Index.

Kirkus US Review

Playwrights and theater-mined readers no longer need shift their ground nor fear their partial ignorance when the long-vanished Commedia dell'Arte is up for cafe espresso discussion. Professor Allardyce Nicoll has definitively spiked that butterfly against the bookcase for all time. The exact nature of the original form and all its permutations during two hundred years of life throughout Europe are displayed and examined down to the last Italian thumbprint on these splendid wings. Professor Nicoll hangs the story of the art form upon the character Harlequin and his inner indestructibility despite costume fashions and change of theatrical methods. Harlequin is a servant with the mind of a fly, who can never think more than one, very simple thought at a time, and can't retain even that longer than a few seconds, so that his stage activity constantly shifts and develops in an absurdity which becomes its own logic. He gets things done by not getting them done. The triumphant satisfaction he derives from this often enough becomes reversed to utter despair when his master discovers his servant's error. The enormous detail Professor Nicoll invests his work with often enough reverses his triumph also. The reader suspects, as windblown and pedantic comparisons between Harlequin and Hamlet are made, that the author's "ho-ho!" could barely make it from the front bench to the stage. (Kirkus Reviews)

Review Text

";...;y llyfr darluniau gorau i'w gyhoeddi'n ddiweddar, o bell ffordd..."; Telegraph

Promotional "Headline"

A critical exploration of questions relating to the commedia dell'arte - an improvised drama performed by masked players.

Description for Bookstore

The commedia dell'arte was an improvised drama performed by masked players. In this book, originally published in 1987, Professor Nicoll critically explores answers to various questions on the subject, basing his arguments on contemporary documents as far as possible and illuminating them with many little-known illustrations.

Description for Library

The commedia dell'arte was an improvised drama performed by masked players. In this book, originally published in 1987, Professor Nicoll critically explores answers to various questions on the subject, basing his arguments on contemporary documents as far as possible and illuminating them with many little-known illustrations.

Details