i Sebastiani - Scenarios On-line
 

Commedia dell' Arte

Scenarios On-Line

We have supplied pointers to these commedia dell' arte scenarios largely because the majority of the e-mail we've received over the years is from students looking for advice about what to do for their commedia project in drama class. Hopefully, among these, is the right place to start.

 
Gone Fishing [performed by i Sebastiani, June 1993]
Cast 7M/4F. This is a sweet and funny romantic scenario that would be great for a young troupe, such as for a high school project. It makes good positive use of the Capitano as a lover. It could easily be made into a 6M/3F by removing the Priest and the Dottore's wife. It should run 50 to 75 minutes, not counting introduction or intermezzi.
The Red Hat [performed by i Sebastiani, October 1993]
Cast 7M/4F. This is a nice romantic comedy scenario for a young troupe. It has some more opportunites for Pantalone and the Dotore built in than does 'Gone Fishing', but at the expense of the lovers chances to play romantic. It should run 50 to 75 minutes not counting introduction or intermezzi.
Sausage [performed by i Sebastiani, October 1994]
Cast 7M/5F. This scenario features Brighella as a bad-guy. It also has good huckster bits, plus the usual love scenes, and vecchi opportunities. This scenario has a fairly challenging crowd scene in act three. It also has some unusually strong women's roles. It should run 65 to 90 minutes not counting introduction or intermezzi.
The Picture [performed by i Sebastiani, Spring 1999]
Cast 8M/4F. This is a great but more challenging scenario for a new troupe. It has characters who have to be seen as good, inspite of them cheating on their spouses [off-stage]. It also includes a woman who has dressed as a man to follow her true love, which leads to some mild homoerotic humor. This is a Scala scenario modified slightly. It should run 60 to 80 minutes not counting introduction or intermezzi.
The Thieving Painters [performed by i Grandissimi, August 2002]
Cast 6M/4F. This is a great scenario for a troupe with a [marginal or better] musician. It includes a cat-fight scene, and some great opportunities for old men motivated by lust. This is a modified version of a Napoli Scenario with character names changed to the Scala names. It could run anywhere from 50 to 80 minutes depending on length of the fighting, music, and painting scenes.
Good Impressions [never performed]
Cast 3M/2F. This scenario is good for a troupe of limited size. It should run 25 to 45 minutes as a one act. It makes good use of Pantalone, Arlecchino, and the Capitano. It takes a dim view of money. It is freely available for use without permission.
Cast 3M/2F. This is a nice sample scenario. It should run 10 to 20 minutes, and focusses only on the lovers and a servant. It could be an entire very short show, or make a great exercise for a troupe working on the lovers parts.
Rumplestiltskin's Angels [i Megalomani, 2002]
Cast 4M/4F. This scenario belongs to Austin Commedia Society and is in production in 2002. Availability on the web does not imply permission to perform. Contact them before use. This is a very funny scenario, that requires performers to be familiar with fairy tales and modern TV culture. This scenario should run 20 to 50 minutes, depending on the richness of development supplied by the cast.
The Wedding [Furnam College Sample Scenario]
Cast 7M/2F. What is available on line is Act I only of a three act play. It has an interesting 'Hamlet-like' play within a play. Because it is not complete in the on-line version it works best as an exercise for an aspiring troupe. This act should run 15 to 25 minutes.
I Think I See Its Head [Script from a group at Cornell University about 1997]
Cast 5M/3F. This is presented as a script, with all the lines written down. To perform this as improvised Commedia, take the script as a suggestion. The dialog presented may not be representative of the sorts of things uttered during real commedia shows.
Five Unrelated Scenes [by Jennifer Erin Book]
These are given as exercises for people getting familiar with Commedia and masks.
Seven Unrelated Scenes [from St. Cloud University]
These are given as descriptions of scenarios that students at St. Cloud will do. There might be enough there for people looking for an exercise to build their own short scenario.
Austin Commedia Society Scenarios Page [i Megalomani]
This is a page with quite a few links to scenarios, including three donated by Ollie Crick. Look around, this is a very nice collection.
Servant of Two Masters [Italian] Goldoni's full script
Not strictly a scenario, but it gives a good idea how the eighteenth century commedia folks thought it should ideally be done.
Madness of Isabella Copied from Scala by a University group
This is one of the Flaminio Scala scenarios. Always one of my favorites.
A handy list of Scenarios by cast size from Scala, Napoli, and i Sebastiani
 

i Sebastiani does not post all of the scenarios we do in part for copyright considerations, and in part because we like to keep a few of our favorite plot twists as our own. The few that appear here are representative of the whole, and intended to be similar in depth of scene description to sixteenth and seventeenth century scenarios before Goldoni.

For making new scenarios, it is worth contacting Jeff Suzuki and Jacqueline Burke, who have recently moved to Bard College. They have a workshop specifically designed to teach the development of stock characters and building scenarios.