Kraków celebrates international Comedia dell’Arte Days for the 15th time – the folk theatre originating in Italy!
Before the era of sitcoms and stand-up routines, audiences were entertained by commedia dell’arte, whose origins date back to the 16th century. Comédie des Masques or commedia all’improvviso had their roots in the traditions of Greek mimes, Roman pantomimes and Mediaeval court jesters, and they were largely based on free improvisation. Actors dressed up in leather masks and distinctive attire presented amusing gags – known in Italian as lazzi – showing off their tricks requiring considerable physical skills.
A feature of commedia dell’arte – alongside the distinctive movements, gestures and expressions – were the cast of characters portraying a range of stereotypes by wearing serious and comical masks depicting moods and types: the brash Colombina, the greedy old Pantalone, the cunning jester Harlequin, the boisterous Il Capitano, and the melancholic Pierrot. It’s worth nothing that dell’arte performances featured women, which was unusual at the time: Renaissance and Elizabethan theatre was the domain of men.
Commedia dell’arte – sometimes known as theatre of laughter – is as popular as ever and it is celebrated every year on 25 February in over sixty countries around the world, including Poland.
PROGRAMME:
February 22, 2024, 6pm
vernissage of an exhibition of artworks dedicated to the dell'arte comedy of Emilii Lukasiewicz
Podgórze Cultural Center, 13 Sokolska St.
admission free
February 23, 24, 25, 2024, 7 pm
Zan Tempesta - premiere show of the play
KOMEDIANTY Troupe
Theater Praska 52, 52 Praska st.
tickets PLN 40 / PLN 60
February 29, 2024, 6 pm
La Serva Padrona. Opera buffa by G.B. Pergolesi
performance by students of the K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice
Concert hall of the B. Rutkowski School of Music of the First and Second Degree in Cracow, 10 Józefińska St.
free tickets apply
March 1, 2, 3, 2024, 7:00 pm
Zan Tempesta - performance shows
troupe KOMEDIANTY
Theater Praska 52, 52 Praska St.
tickets PLN 40 / PLN 60
26 february-01 march 2024
dell'arte comedy workshops for music school singers (1st and 2nd degree)
