Harlequinade is a type of theatrical performance piece, originally a
slapstickSlapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense and sometimes includes ironic situations, such as a character being hit in the face with a heavy frying pan or running into a brick wall, or going mad while searching for...
adaptation of the
Commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century, maintained its popularity through the 17th century, and is still performed today. Performances were mostly unscripted, held outside and used few props...
, which dates back to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in the 16th century. The story revolves around the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, Pierrot, Columbine, Clown, and Pantaloon.
The British harlequinade, beginning in the 18th century, involved a series of scenes interwoven with scenes from a serious play based on a myth or folklore.
Harlequinade is a type of theatrical performance piece, originally a
slapstickSlapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense and sometimes includes ironic situations, such as a character being hit in the face with a heavy frying pan or running into a brick wall, or going mad while searching for...
adaptation of the
Commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century, maintained its popularity through the 17th century, and is still performed today. Performances were mostly unscripted, held outside and used few props...
, which dates back to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in the 16th century. The story revolves around the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, Pierrot, Columbine, Clown, and Pantaloon.
The British harlequinade, beginning in the 18th century, involved a series of scenes interwoven with scenes from a serious play based on a myth or folklore. The Harlequinade was first played in mime, with music, but later had speaking. It included lots of slapstick and silliness. The story of the harlequinade was reduced, by the 19th century, to a comic chase scene focusing on the story of Harlequin and Columbine. Also by the 19th century, the
pantomimePantomime is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in Great Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is usually performed during the Christmas and New Year season.-History:A pantomimos in Greece was...
entertainment followed a long drama, and the pantomime itself ended with a Harlequinade as part of the bill. The pantomimes had double titles, describing the two unconnected stories such as "Little Miss Muffet and Little Boy Blue, or Harlequin and Old Daddy Long-Legs." In an elaborate scene, a Fairy Queen transformed the pantomime characters into the characters of the harlequinade, who then performed the harlequinade. Throughout the 19th century, as stage machinery and technology improved, the transformation of the set became more and more spectacular.
In the plot of the British harlequinade, Harlequin had to perform a task, and he and Columbine would set out to perform it, pursued by Pantaloon (usually the girl's father) and Clown (originally Pantaloon's servant, but later the primary conspirator) and sometimes another lover who had Pantalone's approval. Clown and Pantaloon try to keep Harlequin and Columbine apart. During the complicated chase scene, Harlequin would magically transform objects and the set by whacking them with his wooden bat or "slapstick".
The harlequinade lost popularity by the 1880s, when
music hallMusic hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and other comic entertainments dominated the comedy stage. Vestiges of the harlequinade survive in the transformation scenes, slapstick (meaning physical humour) and chase scenes in today's pantomimes.
The characters
Harlequin
The
HarlequinHarlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popular of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
is the comic of the show. He is a servant and the love interest of Columbine. His everlasting high-spirits and cleverness work to save him from several difficult situations which his amoral behaviour gets him into during the course of the play. In some Italian forms of the harlequinade, Harlequin is able to perform magic feats. He never holds a grudge or seeks revenge.
John RichJohn Rich was an important director and theatre manager in 18th century London. He opened the New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields and then the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and began putting on ever more lavish productions...
brought the British pantomime and harlequinade to great popularity in the early 18th century and became the most famous early harlequin. He developed the character of harlequin into a mischievous magician. He used his magic batte or "slapstick" to transform the scene from the pantomime into the harlequinade and to magically change the settings to various locations during the chase scene.
A century later, Fred Payne and Harry Payne, known as the
Payne BrothersFrederick Payne and Harry Payne were members of a popular Victorian dynasty of British pantomime entertainers. They were billed as The Payne Brothers....
, were the most famous Harlequin and Clown, respectively, of their day.
Harlequin is generally considered to be the forerunner to 'whiteface' clowns, i.e. those that rely on slyness or trickery to amuse the audience, rather than buffoonery or physical slapstick.
Columbine
ColumbineColumbina is a fictional character in the Commedia dell'Arte. She is a comic servant....
is a lovely woman, who has caught the eye of Harlequin. In both French and Italian theater, she is often portrayed as a servant, serving girl, or lady's maid under the patronage of Pantaloon (Pantalone), though she is at times depicted instead as his daughter.
Her role usually centers around her romantic interest in Harlequin, and her costume often includes the cap and apron of a serving girl, though (unlike the other players) not a mask.
Clown
A slapstick character who achieved immense popularity outside the Harlequinade, the Clown existed in the Commedia dell'arte in a form immediately recognizable to those who are familiar with the mischievous circus clown character of today. Clown served as a foil for Harlequin's slyness and adroit nature. Clown is a buffoon or fool who resembles less a jester than a comical idiot.
In the Victorian harlequinade, Clown became more important, embodying its anarchic fun. The great clown
Joseph GrimaldiJoseph Grimaldi , the most celebrated of English clowns. Grimaldi's performances made the Clown character the central character in British harlequinades.-Early and personal life:...
was responsible for building the character up from the country bumpkin fool of the Commedia dell'arte into the central figure of the harlequinade. He developed jokes, catch-phrases and songs that were used by subsequent Clowns for decades after his retirement in 1828. Clown became central to the transformation scene, crying "Here we go again!" and so opening the harlequinade. He then became the villain of the piece, playing elaborate, cartoonish practical jokes on policemen, soldiers, tradesmen and passers-by, tripping people with butter slides and crushing babies, with the assistance of his elderly accomplice, Pantaloon.
Pantaloon
Originally, Pantaloon (or Pantalone) was a devious, greedy merchant of Venice – a typical character of the Commedia dell'arte. He is taken in readily by the various tricks and schemes of Harlequin to the great amusement of the audience, to whom the Harlequin's tricks are readily visible.
Pantaloon's costume usually includes a red tight-fitting vest and breeches ensemble, slippers, a skullcap, a comically over-sized hooked nose, and a grubby grey goatee.
In the English Harlequinade, popular in 18th and 19th-century London, Pantaloon emerged as the greedy, elderly and overly-amorous father of Columbine who tries to keep the lovers separated and assists Clown in his cruel tricks.
Pierrot
PierrotPierrot is a stock character of mime and Commedia dell'Arte, a French variant of the Italian Pedrolino. His character is that of the sad clown, pining for love of Columbine, who inevitably breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. He is usually depicted wearing a loose, white tunic...
, or ‘Pedroline’ was one of the comic servant characters. His face was whitened with flour. During the 17th century, the character was increasingly portrayed as stupid and awkward, a country bumpkin with oversized clothes. During the 19th century, the Pierrot character became less comic, and more sentimental and romantic. Also in the 19th century, Pierrot troupes arose, with all the performers in whiteface and baggy white costumes.
Harlequinade costume
The costumes consisted of the following:
- Originally, a black mask, which allowed the actor to lift it and reveal himself sometimes. Other times it is lowered to keep the actor from the audience's view. It has tiny eyeholes and quizzically arched eyebrows. Later, some characters wore whiteface, and the British pantomime characters originally wore masks that they then removed for the transformation to the harlequinade.
- Traditional diamond checkered pants (usually alternating blue, green, and red diamonds)
- Peasant's shirt
- Batte, or slapstick (carried by Harlequin)
Adaptations and cultural impact
- Harlequin and the Fairy's Dilemma (1904), was one of several works by W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
focusing on the harlequinade
- Harlequinade
Harlequinade is a play by Terence Rattigan.THe play was first performed on September 8, 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre, London, along with The Browning Version....
is a play by Terence RattiganSir Terence Mervyn Rattigan was one of England's most popular 20th century dramatists. He was born in South Kensington, London of Irish Protestant extraction, educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Oxford, and his plays are generally situated within an upper middle class background.-Life and...
.
- Les Millions d'Arlequin
Les millions d'Arlequin is a ballet in two acts with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Riccardo Drigo. First presented at the Imperial Theatre of the Hermitage by the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia on...
(a.k.a. Harlequinade), a ballet by the choreographer Marius PetipaMarius Ivanovich Petipa was a ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer...
and the composer Riccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
. First performed at the Imperial Theatre of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
on . Restaged by George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Melitonis dze Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Georgian parents, was one of the 20th century's foremost choreographers, a pioneer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet: his work created modern ballet, based...
for the New York City BalletNew York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins...
. First performed on 4 February 1965.
- Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
published a modern interpretation of the classic characters in his short story collection 'Fragile Things.'
- "Harlequinade" is the name of an episode of Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series adaptation of the comic book series starring the DC Comics superhero, Batman. The series is noted for being the first to take place in the DC Animated Universe. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.The visual style of the series is...
that features the character Harley QuinnHarley Quinn is a fictional character, a supervillainess, in the animated series Batman: The Animated Series, later adapted into DC Comics' Batman comic books. As suggested by her name , she is clad in the manner of a traditional harlequin jester...
.
- The Harlequinade partly inspired Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE , was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays...
's The Mysterious Mr. QuinThe Mysterious Mr. Quin is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on April 14 1930 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year...
, with specific reference being made to the Commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century, maintained its popularity through the 17th century, and is still performed today. Performances were mostly unscripted, held outside and used few props...
in the short story "Harlequin's Lane".
- The Harlequinade is a recurring trio of characters in The Invisibles
The Invisibles is a mature readers comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
series.
- Harlequin and Columbine are mentioned in the song "The Cry of Eugene", by rock band The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their unique blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, which featured Keith EmersonKeith Noel Emerson is a British keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he started Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
.
- Pierrot and Columbine are recurring motifs in Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius novels.
- Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. He has written in many genres, but principally science fiction.His published works include over 1000 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering not only literature, but film, television, and print media...
gives Harlequin as an alter-ego for a mischief-making rebel in his story ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman"
- American novelist, Raymond Kennedy
Raymond Kennedy was an American novelist. He was born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts to James Patrick Kennedy and Orise Belanger and was the youngest of three brothers. Kennedy spent his formative years in Belchertown and Holyoke...
, published "Columbine" (1980) in which he used some of the characteristics and themes of the Harlequinade. Kennedy's work is typically characterized as comically grotesque. His use of the harlequinade is instructive in connecting the commedia dell'arte and later grotesque literary traditions.
External links