This work, on a famous creator of the commedia dell'arte, has roots in interdisciplinary fields as well as performance theory and practice. Schmitt – a long-standing scholar–practitioner – roots her argument in the original sociocultural context in which the early professional theatre flourished. She also deploys modern theories from as far afield as biochemistry and evolutionary science in dialogue with the past. The book is divided into two sections – ‘Part One: Context, Culture, and Aesthetics’, which is theoretical and historical, and ‘Part Two: Scenario Reconstructions’, which includes plot analyses. In Part One Schmitt discusses the characters in Scala's scenarios and their interrelationships as reflections of a contemporary reality, and the perennially external setting as the ideal, and most believable, locus for manifold confrontations between generations, classes and sexes. The section concludes with a lengthy reflection on the nature of invention itself, counteracting the common assumption that the canovacci were unoriginal ‘skeletal’ texts, devoid of literary merit. It is cogently argued that all invention is ultimately a form of recycled and reconfigured repetition. In Part Two, we are treated to close readings of four plots, to attempt to give them ‘the same weight they had likely been given by their original audience’ (p. 240). The result is an exhilarating ride: Professor Schmitt illuminates the scenarios’ contexts with reference to cultural, historical, philosophical, psychological and scientific sources. Thus we learn the dance steps of ‘Il Piantone’, ‘Roman’ singing style, discourses on love in its many forms, and the relative efficacy of urine analysis as a diagnostic tool.
As Scala declared, the scenarios were intended to mirror reality. For example, the Council of Trent, responding to threats from Protestant reformers, enacted measures to shore up the authority of the paterfamilias over his offspring's aspirations. This is amply reflected in many scenarios, which revolve around intergenerational conflict, as young lovers conspire to resist parental pressures and marry partners of their own choosing. We are also treated to a wealth of information about how the actors achieved their dramatic remit with minimal resources, how ‘the offstage space is made real’ (p. 174) by various means, such as the recurring lazzo of the servant arriving out of breath, thus expanding the imagined physical space of the play exponentially. Consummate mimetic techniques galvanized the viewing public, and ultimately enabled the troupes to fan out across Europe, performing to audiences that had no knowledge of any of the myriad Italian dialects. That is not to say that the scenarios lacked subtlety and finesse. In The Jealous Old Man, Schmitt teases out the layered ironies in the plot that sees Pantalone blithely standing guard outside the house in which his young wife is copulating furiously with her paramour. Even when she emerges, he shows great concern for the fact that she has broken out in a sweat. Later, Burattino demands compensation for the bed the lovers broke. Cruelty rubs shoulders with natural justice and makes a convincing case for subverting the power of wealthy and obstructive old men.
In this context, actors were a special breed, travelling the patchwork of jurisdictions like outlaws, living a life that was unusually egalitarian. Women enjoyed equal status with men, and uneducated clowns worked alongside university graduates. The early companies essentially circumvented patriarchal authority, projecting a vision of human relationships untrammeled by the rigid hierarchy and entrenched misogyny of the Catholic Church, a vision that has yet to be fully realized even today. Schmitt's beautiful and incisively detailed book goes a long way to celebrating their inspirational genius.
