Unit 2: Commedia dell'Arte Summative Performance Task-- Exploration of Exemplar

(THIS wasn't actually this video but the one I watched was this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjQUxedbGQ&list=PLduNxeUSH1tyQ8DqQNy6nplqZDMlNiAzR)

• Lazzi (what were your favorites within this piece? why?) 

My favorites about this piece was the part where he got a female volunteer from the crowd to perform an improvised piece with him, especially the part where he was trying to seduce the girl and she was very surprised. The other thing that I liked about the performance was his exaggerated expressions and sound effects that were used, it really made the act all the more enjoyable and it added life to the pantomimed objects and environment portrayed. I like these parts in the pieces because I thought it was these elements that made the act amazing and funny.

• Using varied interactions (environment, props, characters, etc.) 

Amo Gulinello, the clown, pantomimed different props and used the audience as his characters, so he used the theater environment to his advantage. He also used sound effects and pantomime to portray the environment his act was taking place.

• Taking out to audience 

Basically, the whole act was based around improvisation by taking out people from the audience. The linked video that I watched; the clown picks out a random girl from the crowd and improvises with a scene where he takes her on a date, in his comedic streak. From the surprise of the girl you could tell that it was totally random and he did a very good job to surprise her in the end and also with his antics,

• Exaggerated emotion (1 to 10) 

I think, I would give the clown a 9 for his exaggerated emotions because he showed very 'Disney-like' exaggeration. Like with the 'grinding' and the faces he made at the girl during the date in the act really stood out and he also showed a lot of emotion and the emotion was also present in his exaggerated actions.

• Exaggerated physicality (use of space) 

He used the front of the stage but he used a lot of levels in his exaggerated actions and he also did some little stunts on the chair, so he made use of the chair's platform by doing little stunts on it, like how he stepped over the girl's whole body and he made more big movements like that to use the space. He also ran across the stage as his entrance and ran across the stage as his exit as well.

• Exaggerated facial expression 

He had good exaggerated facial expression was good and it made the act really funny. It also emphasized the character's personality quite a bit and it was very expressive. I think the act included a lot of the basic facial emotions of anger, frustration, happiness and so on but in a more comedic and exaggerated manner.

• Stock characters of Commedia 

I think the character of the clown would be ranked as Harlequino, because he was comedic and funny but he wasn't necessarily stupid like Zanni. In some parts he was a bit of a flirt, which I can relate back to a sub-character of Commedia that I came across in the research stage; Mezzetino, who's a flirt but does pretty much the same antics as Harlequino. The clown was a bit of flirt and clown in this one. 

• Performance elements (sound, lights, staging) 

I think the sounds were great because it helped to make up the environment on stage. The setting of he chairs on the middle of the stage was also very good because it was visible to everyone. There was light focused on the place where the clown went and the staging was good too. He used a good amount of the stage, the front of it only but his levels of movements made it much better. 

• Working with audience member (how did he make it clear to her what she should do? how did he support and lead her through the scene?)

The audience member that he picked (the girl) was struggling in some bits because she was very amused and she wasn't thinking out all the exaggerations and extra actions of the piece so he had to improvise and instruct her using his actions since it was a silent act. I think that the instructions he portrays blended in smoothly with the piece, the clown also used extra emotions to instruct the girl on her actions.