SOURCE: "Dario Fo and the commedia dell'arte," in Studies in the Commedia Dell'Arte, edited by David J. George and Christopher J. Gossip, University of Wales Press, 1993, pp. 247-265.

[In the following essay, Cairns focuses on Fo's 1985 Harlequin production and examines his contemporary adaptation of commedia techniques.]

The extraordinary vogue for the commedia dell'arte as a performance language in the contemporary theatre has given rise to two distinct conventions. First, the 'archaeological' reconstruction of the working methods, costumes, masks and relationships between the well-known stereotype characters, refined and polished to a high degree of professional performance by such companies as TAG Teatro of Venice and the Carrara family, who tour Europe with their re-elaborations of classic scenarios such as La Pazzia di Isabella. Secondly, we have the adaptation or 'selection' of styles from past traditions of commedia for modern uses: a bringing face to face with contemporary social and...