Commedia dell'arte emerged in the streets of Venice during the 16th century as a rudimentary style of improv comedy that employed what authorities at the time saw as troublemakers. Several hundred years later, the art form will re-emerge in Pittsburgh.
I Pierogi, a newly-fledged Pittsburgh comedy troupe, is resurrecting the improv style for its inaugural show, A Labour of Lazzi, on Fri., March 8 at West View HUB.
The show is free to attend — though a $5 donation is encouraged — and is only on for one night.
Shawn MacIntyre, the founder of I Pierogi (pronounced “E Pierogi”) and a self-described "history nerd," says the improv style couples freedom of expression with historical homage.
"[The audience is] seeing not only like the comedy, but they're seeing like someone else's imagination at work," MacIntyre, who also serves as the operations manager for Braddock's Battlefield History Center, tells Pittsburgh City Paper. "It gives us each time to kind of show our imagination through these characters that have been around since the 16th century.”
Working off sentence-length scenarios and a handful of stock characters, 12 troupe members will develop dialogue and actions for eight one-act scenes. Each actor will embody an archetypal commedia dell'arte character, including the stuttering statesman, the perky maid, the indignant loner, and others.
MacIntyre believes the art form will resonate with audiences, as common commedia dell'arte archetypes provided much of the groundwork for numerous pop culture figures.
"Modern characters in television are influenced by these characters from way back then," MacIntyre says. "The character Arlecchino is probably the most common one you see in commedia del'arte. He is your Peter Griffin, your Fry from Futurama, your Homer Simpson."
MacIntyre notes that commedia dell'arte came at a time when actors couldn't be buried in Catholic cemeteries because the church deemed them "professional liars." He says most of the female actors in the original commedia dell'arte shows — performed in plazas or on street corners — were sex workers by trade and the only people willing to take the stage.
And back when criticizing heads of state could be met with a beheading, powerful figures could be identified and mocked in these theatrical creations, according to Eric Molina, an I Pierogi troupe member.
In the upcoming show, for instance, Molina embodies the character of Il Capitano, an arrogant braggart. He and another actor will build a full scene around the sentence-length prompt: "Il Capitano is bragging about a war story. Il Dottore (another stock character) keeps correcting him on his lies."
Molina tells City Paper that the appeal of veiled ridicule is why the commedia dell'arte improv form has stuck around for the past 400 years.
"We're ridiculing a whole swath of people that you know in your everyday life," Molina says. "You know the guy who thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. You know the guy who's always making up stories about himself. And then you get to see them in this environment where they get taken down a peg."
MacIntyre notes that A Labour of Lazzi is only the beginning for I Pierogi, and that troupe will be performing at the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival in April. Right now, cast and crew members are working for free, with hopes that future performances will see a profit for everyone.
"For me, it's the love of the history and the characters involved," MacIntyre says. "But some of [the other actors], it's for the love of the acting."
I Pierogi presents A Labour of Lazzi. 7 p.m. West View HUB. 435 Perry Hwy, West View. $5 suggested donation. Registration required. westviewhub.org
I Pierogi highlights a 400-year-old improv style created by sex workers and "liars"
