COMMEDIADELLARTE

Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell’arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked “types” which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actresses and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is “comedy of craft”; it is shortened from commedia dell’arte all’improvviso, or “comedy of the very creative ability of improvisation”. Here, arte does not refer to “art” as we currently consider the word, but rather to that which is made by artigiani . In fact, the term arte was coined much later, for in the early period the term used in contemporary accounts is ...

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Commedia dell'arte
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Need help with a clue?
Try your search in the crossword dictionary!