Commedia Troupe | Are You a Rising Ninth Grader? | NEW! Film Crew! | Auditions | Registration
For rising 9th – 12th graders
5 weeks, 7 performances
Tuition: $2,900
July 19 – August 20
On Tour from August 12 to August 20
Create an outrageous original comedy and take it on a week-long tour by bus and backpack! Perfect for performers interested in improvisation, physical comedy, mask work and group playwriting.
Working in an ensemble of up to 13 actors, the Commedia Troupe creates and rehearses an original play under the direction of master teacher Toby Mulford. Rehearsals focus on improvisation, mask use, movement analysis, ensemble creation, vocal technique and collaborative storytelling, as well as study of both the historical form of Commedia and its modern descendants. Outdoor rehearsals, rigorous exercises and weekly campouts prepare you to go on a nine-day tour, camping out, hiking, rafting and performing at a series of outdoor venues, including Douthat State Park and Colonial Williamsburg, site of the first theatre in the colonies.
What is Commedia dell’Arte?
Commedia Dell’Arte is the style of improvised theatre that invented many theatrical conventions that we now take for granted: slapstick comedy, professional actors and (startling enough) women playing the female roles! Originating during the Italian Renaissance, Commedia dominated the European theatre scene for more than two centuries and has inspired everyone from Shakespeare to The Simpsons.
The Play
This summer, the Commedia Troupe will perform The Fake Madwoman, a 17th century scenario by Flaminio Scala. Like all scenarios, this was published as a plot outline only, so the actors get to create their own scenes and comic routines around this basic structure. The plot is set, but all the details are up to the actors.
A slight summary:
Flaminia loves Oratio…
…who loves Isabella, who loves him back…
…but is engaged to Dr. Gratiano.
So Flaminia disguises herself to follow Oratio…
…who has disguised himself to follow Isabella, who hasn’t disguised herself…
…but is pretending to be insane.
With us so far?
Add in scheming servants, greedy old men, jealousy, poisonings, brawls and madness and you have the kind of mess that only a Mysterious Stranger could solve. Good thing the troupe has a Mysterious Stranger outfit backstage.
Commedia Troupe is by audition only. Click here to learn more about auditioning.
Click here to register.Scholarships are available: click here to find out more.
Rising 9th Graders have options! Click here to see them.
More interested in tech theatre? Click here to find out more.