Commedia Dell’arte is a form of theater which involved improvised dialogue and a cast of colorful stock characters that emerged in Northern Italy in the fifteenth century. This take on comedy quickly spread throughout Europe becoming an extremely popular form of theater. The stock characters in commedia each possessed unique characteristics, made quirky gestures, and wore costume and mask specific to the character they played. Generally, the plot of the plays centered on the struggle of young lovers, known as the innamorati, whose relationship is trying to be sabotaged by an older character, known as the vecchi. The innamorati reach out for help from servant characters, the zanni, and with their assistance, the play comes to a happy conclusion.…show more content… In general the vecchi are portrayed as selfish, and quite prone to committing any and all of the seven deadly sins (lust, sloth, greed, pride, wrath, gluttony, envy.) They also are often hypocrites, demanding acts of sacrifice and loyalty from others they would never perform themselves, save for an occasional and usually sudden change of heart in the final act to allow a happy ending. (Felix)
The job of the vecchi was to completely sabotage the innamorati’s happiness. The costumes and masks the vecchi wore were easily identifiable because their masks were dark and unique and their costumes were high-end in comparison to the rest of the cast.
About 20 minutes into the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an elevator door opens and the actor Tim Curry steps out. His face is heavily mascaraed, the portrait of a commedia dell'arte drag queen. Everything below that striking visage is covered in a magnificent cape. He struts out, to the beat of a Stonesian guitar riff, and a few moments later he turns and rips off the cape: We can see he sports a glistening string of giant pearls and, not least, a silver-spangled ensemble of women's lingerie.
