Carlo Goldoni and the Italian theatre reformation

Extract

[...] However, rather than remove all commedia ideas, Goldoni's goal was to bridge the gap between the old commedia dell'arte and his new vision for the theatre. His first well-known erudita work was Il Servitore di due padroni (Servant of Two Masters, 1745), which was based on an old French theme and written for famed Truffaldino mime Antonio Sacchi (Riedt, 18-19). The play took stock commedia characters and placed them in a fully written piece, complete with the familiar physical gags but also with a new sense of realism. [...]

[...] Carlo Goldoni and the Italian theatre reformation When Carlo Goldoni began writing for the theatre in the 1740's, his Venetian audiences were still in the throes of commedia dell'arte, which had been popular for over two hundred years. However, Goldoni was ready to bring realism to the stage. He thought that the theatre should be bound up with character, social criticism, and moral purpose, which were ideas that traditional commedia was not concerned with. He also wanted to change the improvisatory style of commedia dell'arte, which relied on little more than stereotypes and a basic plot outline. [...]

[...] This was combated by the company of Goldoni's rival Carlo Gozzi, who was a staunch commedia conservative and a vocal opponent of Goldoni's. Gozzi commented, . that [Goldoni] wishes to do away with the four worthy and amusing Masks of the harmless material of the professional improvised comedy, treating it, wrongly and shamefully, as foolish, immodest and hurtful”. In response to Goldoni's decision, Gozzi created a series of scenes known as Fiabe (loosely translated as Fables), which used the old Masks in new plots combined with elements which satirized Goldoni and his work. [...]