ABSTRACT
The 1565 diary of Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria contains a description of a performance thought to be the first dated evidence of an improvised scenario. The plot follows what would become a typical theme of the Commedia dell’Arte: intergenerational conflict. In this case, it involves two old Venetians vying for the attentions of two young courtesans. They are tricked and thus frustrated in their plans by two young men and the old men’s own servants. The play concludes with the marriage of the young couples accompanied by a Venetian dance performed by the old men (Katritzky 1992: 155). From the outset, therefore, the vecchi, and their idiotic amorous pretensions were a central feature of the Commedia all’Improvviso, driving the plot relentlessly towards their own comeuppance and the triumph of romantic love. The Venetian reference in the diary is not insignificant. The earliest old man of the Commedia dell’Arte, the Magnifico – later evolving into Pantalone de’ Bisognosi – was always presented as a citizen of ‘The Most Serene Republic’. The character was originally the other half of a comic duo based around the master-servant relationship. As such, the mask can be said to be the archetype of all subsequent masters, including the Dottore, just as Zanni is the ur-servant from which Arlecchino, Brighella, Truffaldino, Pedrolino and others ultimately derive. There are numerous extant status-based duologues of this type, which were in essence the slapstick precursors of more complex narratives developed by the later acting troupes.
