Sonnets of the Commedia dell'Arte

A collection fourteen sets of fourteen interlinked, classical sonnets (a 'heroic crown of crowns'), adapting fourteen Commedia dell'Arte scenarios from Flaminio Scala's 1611 compendium, Il Teatro delle Favole Rappresentative (A Theatrical Repertory of Fables).

Commedia dell'Arte is a type of improvisational theater that started (probably) in Venice in the 1400 or 1500s. The actors portray certain archetypal stock characters already familiar to the audience, and then starting from a very general plot outline (called a scenario), they would go on stage and perform what we now call "improv," usually while wearing unique masks and costumes to make themselves easily identifiable.

A few of the general characteristics of Commedia dell'Arte performances were that they bawdy and risqué (at least by the prudish standards of the 1500s) and full of witty jokes, physical humor, and slapstick. The characters were overexaggerated versions of cultural stereotypes. The plots focused on love or trickery or both, and the lower class characters would always outwit and embarrass the upper class characters.