Commedia del'arte

This sixteenth century drama in Italy was the precursor to our pantomime tradition. There were three pairs of characters: Harlequin (Arlecchino) and Columbine, Pierrot (Pedroline) and Pierette and Pantaloon (Pantalone) and Clown. Harlequin was a very agile but slow-thinking servant adored by the maid Columbine. Pantaloon, sometimes Columbine's master and sometimes her father, was against the match and engaged Clown to help him break off the affair. Pierrot, another servant, suffers from unrequited love for Columbine and Pierette is his friend who listens to his tales of woe. The highlight of the play was Harlequin being chased around the stage by Pantaloon and Clown, whacking various objects with his stick as he passed them, transforming them by magic into different forms.