Commedia dell'arte: Managing Chaos

Why is commedia dellarte, a 500-year-old Italian theatrical tradition, still relevant today? And, why does it still make us laugh?

Il Dottore (the Doctor), one of commedias classic characters and an unapologetic busybody and know-it-all, guides us through the rich history and delightfully silly machinations of commedia dellarte—literally, the art of comedy.

With a lighthearted style, a band of merry pranksters define and contrast comedy and tragedy, shed light on the language of commedia, provide a history of the art form and its masks, and perform improvisations from the tradition. Thomas Simpson, senior lecturer in Italian at Northwestern University, Italian director and teacher Paola Coletto, and performers David Gaines and Sean Michael Kaplan, who trained at the legendary Jacques Lecoq School in Paris, collaborate on this original lecture-demonstration.

Presented in partnership with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Chicago and the Alice Kaplan Center for the Humanities at Northwestern University.