La Tragedia dell'Arte 

the Seed of Folly from the Mask to the text

Intensive workshop of Commedia dell'Arte

conceived and directed by

CRISTINA COLTELLI

 



"Our entire existence has no consistency. However, this Commedia cannot be played otherwise." HERASMUS, In Praise of Folly

Folly has always been walking side by side with the history of human kindness, and the way  human beings perceive, represent and perfom it. Always swinging between a constant feeling of fascination and repulsion. In ancient times Folly coexisted with society and had indeed a proper role and even a  physical personification (let's think about all the fools in medieval courts). But in the beginning of XX century, with the birth of  psychoanalysis, the perception changes forever. From now on Folly ends its function of  alert  antithesis of  established order to turn exclusively into an individual clinical sickness to cure and isolate.  But if society has still not solved its relationship with Folly, all Arts, in all their forms, kept constanlty in touch with it, as Folly seems to be an indispenable tool to tell what the human being is.  The  representation of  Folly  is  a  cultural heritage that  many generations of  artists in  Europe,  and  their audience along with them, had to face. creating a real tradition that goes gently from  medieval fools to Commedia dell'Arte, from Orlando's folly to Amleto's one, from Don Quixot to Buster Keaton and from Pirandello to pshychedelic dramas.  We will here  explore the staging of Folly as fury antithetic to society  on one side, and as  intimate  division of  the ego on the other side. The classical Commedia dell'Arte  techniques will give us the  common tools and will make the base for the development of thematic improvisations.

THIS WORKSHOP IS PART BOTH OF THE PROJECTS "L'ORLANDO (è) FURIOSO" AND "ARLECCHINO AND THE HIDDEN ANCESTORS"



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