Lazzi and Zanni

 

Lazzi. Stock jokes, comic dialogues, and comic devices used in commedia dell’arte, many of which were bawdy and ridiculous.  Devices included use of letters, disguises, storms, ladders, lost and found keys, leaps from balconies, collapsing chairs, trap doors, and anything that would produce a laugh. 

 

Zanni.  This can refer to either the archetype comic servant of the Commedia dell’arte or various stereotypical servant characters of the same genre.

Stock Characters.

Arlecchino was the most famous. He was an acrobat and a wit, childlike and amorous. He wore a cat–like mask and motley colored clothes and carried a bat or wooden sword.

Brighella, Arlecchino’s crony, was more roguish and sophisticated, a cowardly villain who would do anything for money.

Il Capitano (the captain) was a caricature of the professional soldier—bold, swaggering, and cowardly.

Il Dottore (the doctor) was a caricature of learning—pompous and fraudulent.

Pantalone was a caricature of the Venetian merchant, rich and retired, mean and miserly, with a young wife or an adventurous daughter.

Pedrolino was a white–faced, moon–struck dreamer and the forerunner of today’s clown.

Pulcinella, as seen in the English Punch and Judy Shows , was a dwarfish humpback with a crooked nose, the cruel bachelor who chased pretty girls.

Scarramuccia, dressed in black and carrying a pointed sword, was the Robin Hood of his day.

The handsome Inamorato (the lover) went by many names. He wore no mask and had to be eloquent in order to speak the love declamations.

The Inamorata was his female counterpart; Isabella Andreini was the most famous. Her servant, usually called Columbina, was the beloved of Harlequin. Witty, bright, and given to intrigue, she developed into such characters as Harlequine and Pierrette.

La Ruffiana was an old woman, either the mother or a village gossip, who thwarted the lovers.

Cantarina and Ballerina often took part in the comedy, but for the most part their job was to sing, dance, or play music.

 

Of course, SOTM didn’t have all of these stock characters, as Goldoni’s play is not in the original commedia form of improvisation and was based on these travelling troupes of Commedia actors. Truffaldino for example is based on Harlequin. 

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