Dalton News

Commedia dell'Arte Artist Visits Dalton Theater Classes

The Theater Department welcomed back renowned Commedia Dell'Arte artist Francesca Sarah Toich to lead workshops in the Commedia tradition.
Francesca, who is from Venice, introduced 7th and 8th grade students to the tradition of Commedia that dates back to 15th-century Venetian marketplaces and its evolution to a widely popular and recognizable theatrical art form. Students learned about the different stock characters of Commedia, their physical traits, and how their masks are utilized in the mise-en-scene of Commedia scenes, known as lazzi. Commedia is focused on physical language as a means of portraying, emphasizing, subverting and reimagining societal conventions — Francesca’s introduction into this centuries-old tradition inspired Middle School theater students to consider its relevance to their own acting pursuits. 

Submitted by Theater Department Chair Rory Boyd
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