Three University students sit one in front of the other, rocking back and forth on the floor chanting in Italian, snoring loudly and making other indefinable noises. An unusual but amusing scene, everything these actors are doing is deliberate and intricate. Their rocking movement must be in sync, their lines timely and their sleeping noises larger than life.
This operatic style of “commedia dell’arte,” or madrigal comedy, is something that director Nicholas Isherwood of the University’s latest opera, “Senile Madness,” knows well.
“They become a sleeping machine,” Isherwood said about the scene they were practicing.
“Senile Madness” is a production of two different Italian operas, both in the “commedia dell’arte” style and both performed in a traditional Renaissance setting.
Although the first opera they are performing, “A-Ronne,” was written by Renaissance composer Adriano Banchieri in 1974, the opera is set in the 1600s. The second opera they are performing is “La Paizza Senile,” which was written around the 17th century.
“I thought it would be interesting to perform them together in the same style,” Isherwood said.
Isherwood, who has directed several University operas, said the program has mostly performed in contemporary style. Last year they performed Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”
This performance, however, is distinctly Renaissance style. Everything from the characters’ movement (hence the “sleeping machine”) to the language, to how the characters hold their bodies and wear their masks is stylized and exact.
Scott Carroll, a music education and voice major, plays Zanni (the origin of the word “zany”), an animated, fast-paced character whose movements are deliberately large, dramatic and, well, zany.
“The hardest part is constantly staying in character and moving how Zanni is supposed to,” Carroll said.
All of the characters are pronounced and distinctive in their roles and specific style of movement, posture and mask.
Marco Valerio, a history and humanities major, plays Dottore in Banchieri’s work, the know-it-all who actually doesn’t know anything.
Some of Dottore’s unique characteristics, Valerio said, are his lengthy speech and his posture — chest out and butt forward — whereas Zanni may stand chest out, butt out.
“In theory (and for the seasoned viewers in practice) the characters can each be identified simply by their chest and pelvic positions,” Valerio said.
These characters, popularized during the 16th to 18th centuries, were usually identified by the costume, mask or movement, and that’s why it is necessary for the performers to play their characters in these exact styles.
The performance is a collaboration between the dance department, music department and theater department, and Isherwood has also brought in musicians from outside the music school.
As traditional as the style is, much of its plot points and humor — namely the dirty jokes and sexual innuendo — transcend the centuries. Even for the opera newcomer, it’s something all audiences can appreciate.
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