What genre is commedia dell arte?

What were some the plays performed for Commedia Dell Arte?

• I'm doing a project for my Theatre Arts class and we are required to search an era of theatrical history. I picked Commedia Dell Arte. I just need some plays that i can perform. PLEASE HELP!!!

• Answer:

  OK...so you just happened to pick the one genre in all of theatre history in which the plays were improvised, and almost never written down! Seriously..."Commedia dell'arte" was improv comedy based on stock characters, classic bits known as "lazzi" (this is where the term "slapstick" came from), and scenarios--outlines of plots that would be posted backstage, and the actors would riff off them and create the play. The whole point (in a way) was that by making it up fresh every time you did it, it kept the shows spontaneous and alive. However: later, some writers did write down script versions of scenarios that had existed, and you should be able to find some. Two good examples to look for: "The Three Cuckolds" and "The Servant of Two Masters", the latter by Carlo Goldoni. Check around on the 'net or at the library; might be harder to find at a bookstore, but it never hurts to try Amazon. Another thought: find a scenario, and then enlist some clever people to do a 5 minute improv off of it--to give the idea of what commedia would really have been like. Good luck!