“That Emperor’s Fool” is a modern book musical, but we intend it to have an unusual quality:  the characters, the costumes, the makeup — and the acting style — are to be quite exaggerated, in keeping with our story's farcical plot.

 

A possible model is Commedia dell'Arte or "improvised comedy," the first secular form of  theatre in Europe, which originated in Renaissance Italy and remained popular in Europe for centuries. 

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Commedia is perhap too exaggerated for this musical. A few examples of Commedia acting style are not to be copied, but may help suggest an acting style for "That Emperor's Fool," as director and actors may decide.

 

A bit of history   Performed by traveling troupes of actors including the first women on stage, Commedia featured over-the-top characters, exaggerated acting styles, and farcical plot outlines to which the actors improvised. Each actor specialized in one role, a stock character with unique expression, gesture, and acting style, and sometimes became famous for their role. All the traditional Commedia characters, except the lovers, wore unique character masks. We suggest very stylized makeup instead of masks, to keep this musical accessible to modern audiences.

 

Commedia's influence has lasted through the centuries in plays, operas, film, and even today’s television sitcoms. Carlo Goldoni’s “A Servant of Two Masters,” was written in 1745 and often still performed, was based on Commedia.

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Recent world tour   The best recent Commedia production was Carlo Gozzi’s “The King Stag,” written in 1762 and performed by Harvard University’s American Repertory Theatre (ART) in 2000. The show went on to tour worldwide as “one of the best loved and most successful of ART productions.” Julie Taymor, who did the Commedia-style costumes, masks, and puppetry for this production, was subsequently chosen to direct Walt Disney’s stage version of “The Lion King,” which included striking aspects of Commedia and won Taymor a Tony award for best director.