Shakespeare's Ear

by Tim Rayborn

  What kind of prop would it have been? A fake sculpted skull certainly would have been used, but why not go for that extra bit of realism and use the actual thing? Let’s bone up on the facts: there are stories (some quite recent) of theater companies using real human skulls for the “role” of Yorick. It naturally brings up some tricky legal and ethical issues, but in most cases, it involves someone (often some kind of entertainer) leaving their body/skull to a given theater company for just that purpose, and if that’s their last wish, who are we to deny them?

  Most famously, acclaimed actor David Tennant made use of the skull of pianist André Tchaikowsky (no relation to the composer), who died in 1982 and willed his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company so that he could take on the famous posthumous role. While the company was glad of his generosity, it seems that his anatomical donation was used only in rehearsals for many years, until Tennant decided in 2008 that it would bring more drama and impact to hold the actual skull during live performances in Stratford and later in London. Actor Jude Law also made use of a real human skull for his London portrayal of the tragic prince, which was purchased from a bone dealer in Salt Lake City. Comedian Del Close also wished for his skull to be used as Yorick’s, or in any other way the company should see fit, after his death in 1999. But despite claims that his skull was used by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, it was not; the skull actually came from a medical supply company.

  If these kinds of stories are strangely common in modern times, you can imagine what might have been going on in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when ideas like phrenology were all the rage; the skulls of the famous became collector’s items, and more than a little grave-robbing happened to supply said “researchers” with appropriate items. Yes, many theater companies seemed only too happy to acquire an actual skull or two for that added bit of realism. The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, for example, was said to have owned a donated skull in the later nineteenth century; it was autographed by a succession of actors who performed as Hamlet. That’s quite a bone-chilling heirloom! Undoubtedly, many other companies wanted that extra bit of realism, and engaged in similar—wait for it—skullduggery.

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  The Commedia dell’Arte

  The Italian Commedia dell’Arte is an utterly splendid exercise in comic anarchy, with roots possibly going back to ancient Roman times—the Atellan farces featured masked buffoons and stock characters, for example—though its first appearance in a more-or-less recognizable form seems to be during the Renaissance, shortly after 1550. Its heyday was between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, but it has survived into modern times and undergone a new renaissance of enthusiasm and popularity. Commedia plays are often decidedly lowbrow and emphasize physical comedy, showing off the best of slapstick humor—in fact, the very word “slapstick” comes from a specific prop used as a paddle to make loud spanking and smacking noises against unsuspecting characters; more on that below. Different characters had different lazzi, which were stock jokes and physical gags that could be inserted wherever a player thought they would be funniest. They were also useful if the play was stalling or someone forgot their lines.

  A typical show relied heavily on improvisation around set sketches and plots and used stock characters that parodied various social classes in Renaissance and Baroque Italian culture. This allowed a troupe to insert contemporary jokes and social commentary relevant to the time and place; no two shows were ever quite the same. The characters most often would wear masks exaggerating their personality traits; this practice may stem from the tradition of masking at Carnival (the time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday). Indeed, the Commedia masks often resemble grotesque parodies of Carnival masks. Despite being composed of traveling players and frequently entertaining (and appealing to) the lower classes, some Commedia troupes obtained very wealthy patrons and even played before nobility and royalty. They were somewhat atypical of the time (certainly in England) in that female roles were played by women, who indulged in the silliness with the same gusto as their male counterparts.

  The Commedia’s influence over the centuries has been immense. Its themes, gags, and physical comedy have found their way into the works of Shakespeare, Molière, Punch and Judy shows, vaudeville, and more recently, the creations of Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks, and even the skits on the television show Seinfeld.

  The cast of characters

  The Commedia is filled with a host of wonderful, weird, and improbable characters that poke fun at all sorts of professions and stations in life. Arlecchino, or Harlequin, is the best known, but the others each have their own comic foibles and idiosyncrasies that have endeared them to audiences since the Renaissance. Here is a listing of some of the most memorable:

  That old devil, Arlecchino (Harlequin): The most famous of the Commedia cast, he is the classic servant, often beholden to older and richer men such as Pantalone, Capitano, or the Doctor. His name possibly derives from the Old French Hellequin, a black-faced devil of legend who roamed the countryside at night chasing damned souls. This name could in turn come from the Old English Herla cyning, or Erlking, a figure from Germanic paganism, who was said to be the king of the fairies and was labeled a devil during the Middle Ages. Dante includes a demon named Alichino in Inferno from the Divine Comedy. Indeed, Arlecchino’s mask is black, and a bit catlike (the black cat was long a symbol of evil in medieval and Renaissance Europe), and his costume is frequently a patchwork of diamonds or other patterns in black and red or multiple colors.

  By the time of the Commedia, he had lost these diabolical associations, but was still not exactly a reputable character. He constantly schemes to relieve his masters of their money, but most often fails. Though he is a servant, he is smarter than some other characters (but certainly no genius), as can be seen by his mask’s short nose—generally, the longer the nose, the stupider the character. At his belt he carries the infamous slapstick (see below), a classic prop and source of much comic violence. His movements are actually rather graceful and agile, a bit more so than his mental capabilities, involving a triple-time walk on tiptoes. Most often he is responsible for botching the deliveries of messages or forgetting his orders and getting distracted by something more interesting, such as food or the opportunity for sex. Much chaotic hilarity usually ensues as he attempts to put things right, and they most often go even more wrong.

  Arlecchino’s lazzi include: accidentally losing a limb (such as a hand), which flies into the audience; flailing around madly with all his arms and legs; somersaulting or sliding to get from one location onstage to another; misuse of props; and screwing up messages and orders by inserting his own ideas.

  The deceitful and cruel Brighella: Sometimes called the most disturbing of the Commedia cast, Brighella (Italian briga: “intrigue,” “trouble”) is considered a fellow zanni (more on them in the next entry) and often paired with Arlecchino (sometimes as his older brother), though he is just as likely to be a tavern owner or some other middle-class character and the boss of the other zanni. He dresses in white with green trim, and sometimes carries a knife. His green mask often features a hooked nose and exaggerated eyebrows to emphasize his villainy. Brighella has many talents and is always quick to point them out and demonstrate them to others. He will also pretend to be whatever someone wants him to be in order to impress them or ingratiate himself to others and so achieve his plans. He thrives on criminal activity, such as deceit, false offers of assistance, theft, and occasionally even murder, if it suits him. He loves money only insofar as it buys the things that he wants, namely food and drink, but he is sometimes a skilled musician. A drunkard and a lout, his crimes are always over-the-top and humorous, and his lies are played for laughs. Brighella slinks about rather like a cat, almost tiptoeing, but ever-ready should the need to pounce arise. He keeps his head in place as his hips sway back and forth when he walks, with his legs far apart. The whole movement is rather ridiculous and adds to his overall buffoonish countenance.


  Brighella’s lazzi include: offering food to Arlecchino, as if to a dog, tossing it across the stage and whistling (Arlecchino chases after it and devours it); visiting the Doctor and being prescribed leeches for his ailments.

  The zany zanni: This term can refer to the lower-class servants and schemers like Arlecchino and Brighella, or it can actually be a separate character with those same qualities. The name is a diminutive of Giovanni; our word “zany” comes from it and describes the nature of the character perfectly. When appearing as a separate character, he wears white clothing (originally made from flour sacks to indicate his poverty) and has a mask with an exceptionally long nose and a furrowed brow, marking him as notably stupid. He lives for food, drink, sex, and slacking off; maybe he’s not so stupid after all? He moves in an exaggerated way and goes to sleep by standing on one leg, with the other leg crossed over his knee, like a stork. His sleep is accompanied by belching, farting, and snoring. His main comic plot purpose is, like Arlecchino’s, to mess up things such as messages and plans and then try to make amends. He is indispensable to the comedy of the show.

  The zanni’s lazzi include: poor sight and/or hearing played up for comic effect; wandering accidentally into the audience or the stage area, only to reappear somewhere else in a later scene with little or no explanation of how he got there.

  The foolish and miserly Pantalone: Pantalone is possibly named for a Venetian saint, San Pantalone, but as his name suggests, he wears distinctive red trousers or stockings. Indeed, the words “pantaloons” and “pants” derive from the stockings stretched over his skinny legs. He also wears a long black cloak with big sleeves and a red cap. Most importantly, he wears a prominent purse on his belt, to flaunt his wealth. An elderly man, he is portrayed as a widower or bachelor who nevertheless makes romantic overtures to all of the females in the show; he always fails. His mask features a long pointy nose and squinty eyes to accent his greed. Indeed, his greatest fear is losing his money, which pretty much guarantees that his servants (usually Brighella and sometimes Arlecchino) are constantly scheming up ways to liberate his coins from him. He is the butt of many jokes and schemes, often made to look like the fool, to the amusement of audiences. Pantalone is often the father of one of the Lovers, and plots ways to keep them apart—a villainous, if comical, role. He walks with a hunch in his back, bent over as if protecting his money, but he almost always loses it to the schemes of the zanni.

  Pantalone’s lazzi include: gags about medical procedures (urine tests, tooth extraction, etc.); farting; being impotent; hopelessly trying to woo a much younger woman.

  The quack Doctor: Il Dottore is probably not a medical doctor, he simply has a university degree, or so he says. Sometimes known as Dr. Baloardo (“Dr. Stupid”), he might claim to have more than one qualification, from Bologna, or Padua, or some such impressive-sounding place. He is happy to blather in fake Latin, which sounds very impressive to the uneducated. Like Pantalone, he is an elder, and a cranky one who often conspires to keep the young lovers apart. He dresses all in black, appropriate to his supposed scholarly background, and is generous in his girth, requiring his costume to have extra padding. His mask is small but with a bulbous nose and exposed cheeks that are painted red to show his over-fondness for alcohol. He walks on his heels and meanders in figure-eight patterns, always moving when speaking and pontificating, led by his belly. And boy, does he like to ramble on; in fact, he never shuts up and frequently cracks vulgar jokes alongside his pseudoacademic spiel, which includes many made-up, multisyllabic words. He often has to be forcibly removed from the stage to shut him up.

  The Doctor’s lazzi include: offering unwanted diagnoses for all manner of illness to the rest of the cast; asking for assistance to perform experiments and untested surgeries; accidentally drinking his own quack potions; using ridiculously large medical implements; a lazzi involving an enema (the less said about that the better …).

  The bombastic Capitano (Captain): The Captain is a boisterous braggart who loves to tell you all about his military exploits, heroism, and romantic conquests. He is a descendant of similar characters in ancient Roman plays by Plautus and Terence. He is arrogant and pretends to be brave, but is actually a coward when confronted with anything threatening, which on a Commedia stage means most things; he is especially afraid of mice. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try to intimidate others, of course, but even this is usually silly and played up for comic effect. His real name is often some absurd list of titles, drawn from every source imaginable, and is improvised or invented by the actor playing him. Examples include Capitano Spavento di Vall’Inferna (“Captain Fright of Hell’s Valley”) and Il’ Capitano Salvador de los Virgenes Burraches (“Captain, Savior of the Drunken Virgins”). His costume can feature silly exaggerations of military outfits, such as huge boots, a large hat, and some kind of military coat. He always carries a sword, but if ever forced to draw it, he will become terrified. His mask is more subdued than those of some of the other characters, and occasionally, he can be without one, though he can also sport the traditional long nose. He moves about with chest out in a proper swagger and walks in a ridiculous parody of a military march. He will very generously take time out to address the audience directly, only too happy to regale listeners (eager and otherwise) with accounts of his phony heroism.

  The Captain’s lazzi include: making excuses about why he cannot fight, even though he could if he really wanted to, of course; he beats Arlecchino a specific number of times (usually ten), but keeps losing count and has to start over; various gags about getting in fights and getting beaten up, or showing himself to be cowardly.

  The innocent Innamorati (the Lovers): The lovers are not comic characters, but they serve as an important plot point. They are the young son and daughter of the older characters such as Pantalone and the Doctor, and they are usually forbidden to see each other, like Romeo and Juliet. This, of course, sets up all sorts of comic possibilities as they seek the help of the zanni to thwart their fathers’ respective plans. They wear no masks, but are heavily made up, and their clothes represent the latest fashions, since they are supposed to be very rich and trendy. Unlike the more grotesque figures of the Commedia, they are elegant and frequently very attractive; they represent the idealism of youth in the face of the stubbornness of old age. Their whole purpose is to be in love with each other. In fact, they are in love with the idea of being in love with each other, and as such, often have a hard time actually speaking to each other. They prefer to let servants do it for them, which leads to all sorts of funny disasters, such as miscommunications, missed meetings, messages delivered to the wrong recipient, and various other misunderstandings. If they quarrel, the young man will often go to great lengths to make it up to the young lady, again employing the help of the zanni; things go terribly wrong but somehow always work out in the end. Ah, young love.

  The Lovers don’t have lazzi, as the jokes happen around them. Some might argue that love is the best joke of all.

  The coarse and volatile Pulcinella: Pulcinella’s name may derive from pulcino, “chick,” and he does indeed sometimes speak with squawks and chirps in an obnoxious French accent; he is associated with southern Italy and Naples. Usually portrayed as a hunchback, he is dressed in white and frequently wears an absurdly tall curved hat, while sporting a black mask with a beaked nose and wrinkles on the forehead, further calling out his birdlike nature. His function is something of an interlude character, often not interacting at all with the rest of the cast, but taking time out to address and insult the audience. He is violent and often pretends to be dumb if he is smart, or clever if he is stupid. He crouches and walks with small steps, but can be acrobatic on occasion. He is sometimes married to a servant named Rosetta, and his mistreatment of her became the model for the later Punch and Judy puppet shows (see below).

  Pulcinella’s lazzi include: picking fights but refusing to actually fight; trying to bargain down prostitutes to the least amount of money possible;
pretending to be deaf, blind, and mute while begging for money; jumping around and making chicken noises.

  The youthful servant Pedrolino: Pedrolino (or Piero) is a role often assigned to the youngest member of the troupe. He is a youthful servant, a valet, who wears hand-me-downs that don’t fit him. The common gag was to see him clothed in a large smock (white or blue) with the sleeves being far too long and his hands thus invisible. He can then wave them around for comic effect, resembling a marionette. His shirt also frequently has a too-large collar and absurdly oversized buttons. He usually doesn’t wear a mask, but instead sports a face painted white, allowing him more facial expressions than some of the other characters; he resembles a contemporary mime. He is young and full of nervous energy, but also bashful and often doesn’t address the audience directly. If he expresses love for another character and she mistreats him, he will blame himself. He could technically be seen as another of the zanni, but one with a heart, and his actions are more like those of the Lovers.