Commedia Dell' Arte: Il' Dottore

My character for this project is Il Dottore (aka The Doctor). He is a commedia stock character that is usually used in scenarios as an obstacle between the two lover characters. He is usually trained in one field but claims to know specifics about many others outside his understanding. He loves to hear himself speak. He is often the character who talks all the time but never says anything. He is usually portrayed in a robust physique, for he loves food and every thought he has and every action he takes is in someway food related. He also often has rosy cheeks to display that he also loves his drink. Actors who play him usually have a large belly and lead with it when they walk. He places all his weight on this heels and keeps his hands in front of him. His jokes are usually crass and towards the opposite sex and he is played as loud and annoying. He is often friend of foe to the Pantalone character and they are usually never apart.

While researching for this mask, I used history websites as well as others selling more modern looking commedia masks. Many of them displayed great photos and descriptions of not only the characters but the masks as well. When making this piece, I started with a base mask that covered the forehead, nose and cheek area. Then I inflated a balloon and attached it to the nose piece with tape and built a bridge, joining the nose and mask together smoothly. I had to cut out the cheek areas to make it look more authentic to the usual style of mask for this character. Then I layered it with paper mache pieces and used tape to smooth the edges. Paint was used to cover the whole mask in a solid color. I used torn up cotton to make the eyebrows and attached black ribbon onto the top of the mask, then covering the ends so they were invisible. I put the ribbon on top of the mask so that way, when placing it on my head, the ribbon would gently pull the mask to shape my face. This was instead of having the ribbon on the inside, fighting the tension of the mask to pull away from my face.

The mask is “authentic” the way of shape and style. It was often mentioned in text that only the forehead and nose area were covered with mask. The cheeks were to be left exposed so the actor could rouge them in order for the audience to tell that he was a drunkard. Colors often used for this mask were darker colors, never bright or out of the ordinary. Usually black, brown or flesh tones were the only ones used for this stock character. The mask is not “authentic” in the fact that modern materials were necessary for its production. Paper mache, being made of flour and water, has been used for a long while. The other materials used were not exactly fit for the time period but worked very well for this project.

Some websites used:

http://www.shane-arts.com/Commedia-Dottore.htm

http://www.commediamask.com/pages/dottore.html

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/commedia.html