Commedia dell’arte și grummelot-ul

Abstract

Commedia Dell’Arte and the Grammelot

Commedia dell’Arte appeared in the 16th century in Italy. This theatrical genre expanded its existence for over two and a half centuries. Nevertheless, the true term “Commedia dell’Arte”, in other words, its structure into a theatrical genre, is the theatrical form practiced during the 18th century. The name itself highlighted especially the professional aspect of this theatrical genre, as opposed to the occasional representations delivered by amateur theatre groups. At the end of the 17th century, the Italian actors were cast away from the Parisian stages, resulting in many of them performing in markets, at fairs, and even in the outskirts of the cities. This is when the grammelot, as an acting technique, starts playing a significant part on the stage of the commedia dell’arte. The technique of the grammelot has been an extremely generous source of inspiration for artistic expression in the case of Commedia dell’Arte actors, thus giving birth to numerous scenes based on the grammelot-technique.