Sunday, June 3rd: Teatro Delle Maschere in Somerville

Just in case you have to miss Teatro delle Maschere's performance at the Cambridge River Festival on Saturday, there is still a another chance to see us this weekend as we will be performing at the SomerStreets Carnaval in East Somerville on Louie's Stage by Foss Park at 3:15pm (Map)

As mentioned previously: we will be performing with new masks designed and sculpted by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre!

The Troupe's New Masks: Behind the Mask Studio

One of the benefits of Teatro delle Maschere's relationship with Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre is that master mask maker Eric Bornstein is crafting the troupe's new masks. After using a set of masks I had developed for teaching classes and workshops in performance, we will be premiering Eric's masks at our June 2nd performance at the Cambridge River Festival.

What follows is a preview of the masks as they are in the process of being crafted:


Arlecchino sculpted in clay over a plaster cast of my face.


Columbina sculpted in clay over a plaster cast of Stacey Polishook's face.


Il Dottore sculpted in clay over a plaster cast of James Van Looy's face.


Here is the trio after all three have been sculpted.


This is a cast taken off of a clay mold. It will form the basis of a final mask. In this case, the mask is for Perriot; who, though not traditionally a masked character, is in our case. As with the Dottore, he has been sculpted over a face cast of James Van Looy.

June 2nd: Teatro delle Maschere at Cambridge River Festival

My commedia dell'arte troupe, Teatro delle Maschere, will be performing at the Cambridge River Festival on Saturday, June 2nd. We will be performing two shows at 3pm and 4:45pm on the INSPIRE Theater Stage on Memorial Drive between JFK and Plympton Streets.

Our sets will include both "The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the Mask" which we previously performed as part of Fort Point Theatre Channel's Excalamation Point! Series and at the Puppet Slam and a commedia dell'arte staging of act III, scene 3 of William Shakespeare's As You Like It which we last performed at last year's Shakespeare Slam.

The cast will include Stacey Polishook, James Van Looy and myself and will feature new masks designed by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre.

This free event is sponsored by the Cambridge Arts Council. The INSPIRE stage is curated by the Central Square Theater.

Facebook users may RSVP here if they like.

And Now For Something Completely Different: A Unicorn in a Bank

It was a very strange gig for this unicorn, who was led around the town of Brookline one November evening to appear at one boutique, three banks, and a crêperie. Let me tell you: three hours of wearing a unicorn head is a lot of stress on one's shoulders, but little girls and middle-aged women just love the beast.

Mask and costume by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask. Unicorn wrangling by Ashley Yarnell, who provides vocals.

Department of Mistaken Identity

Web Chronicles, which appears to be some sort of automated news websearch aggregator has a page devoted a page to photographs and gossip about far more famous fellow actor, Eric Thal.

A man of a thousand faces, but none of them are Eric Thal.

As near as I can tell, despite the shared surname, we are not even related: The Thals from whom I am descended are Lativian Jews from the region of Courland, while according to an interview I once read after somebody reasonably asked, Eric, if I may be so familiar, despite playing a Hassid in A Stranger Among Us (1992), is not of Jewish descent: his Thals are ethnic Germans.


Eric Thal is not to be confused with Il Capitano, a stock character of the commedia dell'arte

Photos are from a presentation for World Commedia dell'Arte Day as a guest of Orfeo Group, and from a performance at Behind the Mask Theatre.

See also: Ian Thal and the Doppelgängers

N.B. 5:24pm: Kevin Fitzgerald, who took the photograph of me wearing the Arlecchino mask, has suggested that:

"You should show up as [Eric Thal] sometime and play one of his roles.

To which I countered:

According to the web page, I should be showing up for his dates with Charlize Theron, though that might be awkward since I don't think I've seen any of her films.

"Oh Charlize, let's not talk about our film work. Let's talk about my passion for commedia dell'arte and mime!"

And:

I bet Charlize Theron eats at fancy restaurants where this poor zanni can't even afford the appetizers. This little confusion may work out nicely for me.

Teatro delle Maschere From Another Angle

After viewing the video I posted yesterday of Teatro delle Maschere's October 2nd performance. Anya Malkina, a friend, graphic designer and web designer who has done work for Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre and had shot photos ofa recent performance of Arlecchino Am Ravenous, sent in this video she took of the second half of our performance, but from stage left.



What I find fascinating about comparing the two videos is how the comparison illustrates that unlike film or television, which, have evolved , theatre is a three-dimensional art form. In this particular clip, even when the Dottore (Jonathan Samson) is obscuring Columbina (Stacey Polishook) and Arlecchino (myself) one can see the two servants' shadows dancing on the back wall.

The Premiere of Teatro delle Maschere

In case you missed last night's show.

The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the Mask

Stacey Polishook as Columbina, Jonathan Samson as Il Dottore, and Eric Bornstein on sound effects. Yours truly as Arlecchino.

Notes:

Stacey, who is both an apple fiend and puppeteer, came up with the Appelina lazzo, which I feel makes for a unique interpretation of the Columbina character.

Jonathan had only flown in from Bangkok earlier that week and had begun rehearsing with us only two days before. Before that, Eric had been playing the role of Il Dottore, in rehearsals (we promise to have him on stage as an actor very soon!)

Grazie to Fort Point Theatre Channel for presenting us as part of the evening's program, Eric for being the catalyst behind the formation of Teatro delle Maschere, Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre for hosting our rehearsals, Toni for her opinions on matters Italian, and Jonathan's father for aiming the camera!

If you enjoyed the show, please become our fan on facebook!

October 2nd: Teatro Delle Maschere @ Fort Point Theatre Channel + Preview!

Teatro delle Maschere, my new commedia dell'arte troupe with Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre, will be presenting a short scenario. The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the Mask as part of Fort Point Theatre Channel's Exclaimation Point! 8: Masks on Saturday, October 2 at 7pm at Art at 12 Gallery, 12 Farnsworth Street in Fort Point, Boston. It will be a free show. Facebook users can RSVP here.

The cast will include Jonathon Samson (of Teatro Commedia) as Il Dottore, Stacey Polishook as Columbina, and myself as Arlecchino.

Teatro Delle Maschere will also be performing a preview this Saturday, September 11th 7pm at Behind the Mask's outdoor stage at 6 Campbell Park Place in Somerville. Eric Bornstein will be playing Il Dottore, otherwise the cast will be the same. Facebook users can RSVP here.

The scenario is created by Stacey Polishook, Eric Bornstein, and myself.

Teatro delle Maschere has a Facebook Page!

Teatro Delle Maschere!

A few weeks after I performed Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask, Eric Bornstein made a proposal. He had been wanting to work on masks depicting the characters of the commedia dell'arte but had not found an avenue to do so. His proposal was to form an in-house commedia troupe with me as artistic director and dubbed it Teatro Delle Maschere.

Eric, Stacey Polishook and I have been developing a short piece which we will be performing various venues this autumn. More to come!

Photos from Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask Studio and Theatre

Another belated post.

A few photographs from my performance of Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre. Eric Bornstein had invited me to perform the inaugural show on the outdoor stage that was built earlier this summer. It was a sunny and the middle of the day, the show had been announced only two days before but we still managed to fill a good many seats.

Here, Arlecchino tells the story of the five little piggies. Photo by Kevin W. Fitzgerald who happened to be visiting from Brooklyn.

Arlecchino prays. Photo by Anya Malkina

Photo by Anya Malkina

After an interesting Q&A during which Bill Marx asked some good questions comparing my usage of the old lazzo, "La Fame dello Zanni" versus that of Dario Fo's, we broke for a light lunch and I went off to supervise my students' rehearsals at Open Air Circus.

This leads to an important announcement that I will make in the next blog entry.

Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask Studio and Theatre

I'll be performing Arlecchino Am Ravenous as a free outdoor performance at Behind the Mask Studio and Theatre on Wednesday, July 28 at 1pm.

Master maskmaker Eric Bornstein had originally asked me to perform as a demonstration to his assistants (and to inaugurate the small outdoor stage they built this summer) and then decided to open the event to a larger audience.

Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre
6 Campbell Park Place
Somerville, MA

(Enter around back. Please use public transit if possible: it's a short walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.)

If you like to use facebook, you can RSVP here

Belated Photographs from Commedia dell'Arte Day Presentation

[Yes, it was nearly two months ago, but I as mentioned before, blogging takes a back seat to the passing of a beloved cat.]

On February 25th, I gave a presentation for World Commedia dell'Arte Day after Orfeo Group Theatre's production of Pierre Marivaux' The Island of Slaves. I packed my masks, along with three that were loaned to me by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask. Eric had been invited to present, but had a prior commitment so he recommended me to go in his place (thanks, Eric!)

Judith Chaffee (visit her Commedia dell'Arte Website) was also scheduled to present, but was unable to make it. So it was up to me. Thankfully, between performing and teaching, I've gotten quite a few ideas about what commedia means to me.

Besides introducing some of the masks, I also demonstrated some of the physical postures of the characters. Photographs courtesy of Cherie Konyha Greene unless otherwise noted.
To quote Cherie: "I'd have liked to get more shots of Ian's Arlecchino--but he moves too fast for my camera. As an Arlecchino should."

Il Dottore has a someone different approach to filling his belly than Arlecchino.

Il Capitano, by contrast, is seeking to fill something else, or as he said to one audience member: "This is not rain. It is the angels weeping because I have forsaken them for you."

The red mask at center is Eric Bornstein's interpretation of Il Capitano. Eric did this mask in leather, mine is in papier-mâché.

Amanda J. Collins, who had been playing Cleanthis earlier in the evening, wearing one of Eric's Arlecchino masks. This one is in leather.

Once again, as Il Capitano. Photo courtesy of Orfeo Group.

Photostream (including more photos) starts here

In addition to Orfeo and Behind the mask, I want to thank Associazione SAT and Faction of Fools for declaring and organizing World Commedia dell'Arte Day!

February 25th: World Commedia dell'Arte Day with Orfeo Group

The Italian cultural agency, Associazione SAT, has declared February 25th World Commedia dell'Arte Day so to lobby UNESCO to recognize the Commedia as a World Cultural Heritage. The Washington D.C.-based Faction of Fools has in turn joined in in organizing a day of activities outside Italy: encouraging artists, audiences, scholars, and students to celebrate the legacy of Commedia dell'Arte!

I will be joining Boston University professor, Judith Chaffee (visit her Commedia dell'Arte Website) and Orfeo Group Theatre for a presentation following Thursday night's performance of Pierre Marivaux' The Island of Slaves at Boston Center for the Arts.

Special thanks to Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask who was originally invited to present, but due to a scheduling conflict asked me to go in his place.