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Commedia dell'Arte Commedia dell'Arte, Italian for "comedy of art", was an Italian theatrical form that flourished throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th century. Outside Italy, the form had its greatest success in France, where it became the Comedie-Italienne. In England, elements from it were naturalised in the halequinade in pantomime and in the Punch-and-Judy show, a puppet play involving the commedia dell'arte character Punch. The commedia dell'arte was a form of popular theatre that emphasised ensemble acting; its improvisations were set in a firm framework of masks and stock situations, and its plot were frequently borrowed from the classical literary tradition of the commedia erudite, or literary drama. Professional players who specialised in one role developed an unmatched comic acting technique, which contributed to the popularity of the itinerant commedia troupes that travelled throughout Europe. Many attempts have been made to find the form's origins from the classical Atellan play...

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