Faction of Fools Theatre Company, Inc., has recently invited the Commedia dell'Arte Day videos of Dr. James Ivey and his theatre students at SUNY Fredonia to join the official archives of SAT, the cultural organization in Italy responsible for safe-guarding the tradition of Commedia dell’Arte Day. SAT has an extensive archive, and sought after Dr. James Ivey to include the video among the official archive collection.
The Faction of Fools Theatre in Washington, D.C. is an organization that Dr. Ivey and students joined forces with to celebrate “Commedia dell’Arte Day” this past February. Students of Dr. Ivey, after nine classes, performed original commedia pieces in the Campus Grind of the Williams Center. These original pieces were filmed and posted on the Web sites (http://www.factionoffools.org and http://www.youtube.com/factionoffools).
The videos are “favorited” on the Faction of Fools YouTube channel and in the organizations “Commedia dell’Arte Day” playlist for highlighting the variety, lessons learned, and the talents that took shape via the characters.
The Associazione SAT proclaimed Feb.25, 2010, a worldwide Commedia dell'Arte Day, where simultaneous events occurred all around the world as theatre companies, scholar, students, and audiences celebrated Commedia dell’Arte on Feb. 25, 2010. This worldwide festival was promoted by the Italian cultural association, SAT, and organized by Faction of Fools, using viral and grassroots tools such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Commedia dell’Arte, which translates to “theatre of the professional,” originated in Italy during the early 16th century and spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance. This theatre involved elaborate costumes, intricate stage machinery, and a lifetime of training on the part of the performer. The stories of the Commedia dell’Arte are based on archetypes, or stock characters. Actors would spend their careers developing and perfecting one specific character or “Mask” that they would play their whole lives. Along with creating the voice, body, and personality of each mask, the actors would also create Lazzi. A lazzo (singular) is a well rehearsed bit of comic action, and Commedia dell’Arte scenarios are full of physical comedy, stage combat, and gymnastics.
For more information on Faction of Fools Theatre Company, or to watch the videos, visit www.factionoffools.org or www.youtube.com/factionoffools.
