Commedia dell’Arte is a 16th-century Italian form of improvised theater that uses masks, stock characters, and physical comedy to bring to life a rambunctious world. Unlike in traditional plays, the actors here play diverse roles in the creation of the project, and, indeed, this year what you will see was largely conceived, written, and choreographed by members of the David Geffen School of Drama’s class of 2023. Their piece—for the honey, you gotta say when.—takes the conventions of commedia out of 16th-century Italy and places it firmly in our present moment. Having navigated a complicated four years in a three-year program, and caught between the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic and social and political turmoil, the production also brings to life the actors’ unique struggles. To address these struggles, they devised lists, sang songs, laughed incessantly, and finally arrived at the production you will see today. Inhabiting the stage are bright traditional characters like Brighella—a quick-witted wrangler, Pantalone—a covetous old man, Smeraldina—a chatty servant, Tartaglia—a dainty young thing, Pulcinella—the pizza guy, and several zannis—extra characters with bumbling personalities. All these characters use their odd, and sometimes counterintuitive, capabilities to find inconsistencies, new realities, and to pose some very probing, very current questions: questions about your insides, about your love life, about your temperature, about your language, and about how you like to drink your tea (hopefully with honey?). To the best of their often dubious ability, they navigate racial stereotyping, white privilege, gender binaries, and American politics. They try and fail, and try again, to understand the confusing world that keeps falling apart around them. These characters don’t always have the answers to the questions they ask, but one thing is for sure, they come from a place of honesty; for although the mask covers the actor’s face, it tends to reveal a deeper, childlike spirit—unafraid of judgment and overwhelmingly free. —Shyama Iyer, Production Dramaturg
A 2022–23 SEASON STUDIO SERIES PRODUCTION