Commedia dell'Arte   El Dottore

This mask from the author’s collection is from a street theater tradition in 16th century Italy called Commedia dell'Arte.

The Commedia dell'Arte featured a set of characters who, as street musicians, enacted plays for the passing public. The characters often wrote plays which commented on the issues of the day.

The early El Dottore (on the left) was always portrayed as a pompous man who would go around spouting Latin and acting like he was better than others. He gave long, long lectures which seemed to have no point when he was finished. At the end of the play, he was always exposed for what he did not know!

The later El Dottore (on the right) evolved when Italy was ravaged by the plague. The nose was filled with camphor rags, the large hat and the long dress was believed to protect the doctor from what he thought was an air borne disease. Once again, El Dottore entirely missed the point and seemed too ignorant to recognize the real dangers. Later, it was discovered that the plague was carried by fleas! Venice lost 2/3 of the population during the plague.

This picture was snapped at the mask shop in Venice in 1999.

Critical Thinking Question: Would you like to work with classmates, design masks which have specific characteristics and write a play focused on an issue you are concerned about? What is the issue? Brainstorm characters.

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