Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as commedia alla maschera, commedia improvviso, and commedia dell'arte all'improvviso. Characterized by masked "types", commedia was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A commedia, such as The Tooth Puller, is both scripted and improvised. Characters' entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of commedia is the lazzo, a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of commedia is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin.
A commedia dell'arte street play during the Carnival of Venice
Commedia dell'arte Troupe on a Wagon in a Town Square by Jan Miel (1640)
Claude Gillot (1673–1722), Four Commedia dell'arte Figures: Three Gentlemen and Pierrot, c. 1715
Pulcinella, drawn by Maurice Sand
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. It is the oldest form of drama, though live theatre has now been joined by modern recorded forms. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. Places, normally buildings, where performances regularly take place are also called "theatres", as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον, itself from θεάομαι.
Greek theatre of Taormina, Sicily, Italy
A depiction of actors playing the roles of a master (right) and his slave (left) in a Greek phlyax play, c. 350/340 BCE
Roman mosaic depicting actors and an aulos player (House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii).
Rakshasa or the demon as depicted in Yakshagana, a form of musical dance-drama from India