Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723

Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723 By Matthew J. McMahan
2021 | 279 Pages | ISBN: 3030700704 | PDF | 5 MB
How do nationalized stereotypes inform the reception and content of the migrant comedian's work? How do performers adapt? What gets lost (and found) in translation?Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723explores these questions in an early modern context. When a troupe of commedia dell'arte actors were invited by the French crown to establish a theatre in Paris, they found their transition was anything but easy. They had to learn a new language and adjust to French expectations and demands. This study presents their story as a dynamic model of coping with the challenges of migration, whereby the actors made their transnational identity a central focus of their comedy. Relating their work to popular twenty-first century comedians, this book also discusses the tools and ideas that contextualize the border-crossing comedian's work―including diplomacy, translation, improvisation, and parody―across time.