Improvisational comedy ain't nothin' new. Roving theater troupes in Renaissance Italy perfected the form, called "commedia dell'arte," and exported it to much of Europe. Familiar stock characters such as Pantaloon, Harlequin, Pierrot and Pierrette, Punch and Judy all are descendants of the "Italian Comedy," and even today have counterparts in TV sitcoms.
By the 18th Century, "commedia" had grown licentious and was dying, so several Italian authors reformed it up by writing cleaner and less improvisational texts. Carlo Gozzi ( 1720-1806 ) was the most interesting. He used stock characters but threw away the stock plots, creating new plays with exotic fairy tale stories. Two Gozzi fables ( he called them "fiabe" ) became well-known operas: Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges ( world premiere Chicago 1921 ) and Puccini's last work, Turandot, about the cruel Chinese princess. Thanks to European Repertory Company ( ERC ) , Chicago audiences now can see the Gozzi original. Sort of.
While no playwright or translator is credited, the ERC script is a fast and loose modern version of Gozzi. His five acts are reduced to two. References to endorphins, Streetwise, Marilyn Monroe and the popular vote cleverly are inserted, and a Kodak moment is worked into the action. Eschewing Puccini's high drama, director Luda Lopatina opts instead for low comedy tempered by light drama. The actors break the fourth wall and introduce themselves to the audience, to whom they talk back in a semi-improvised way. The company indulges in much physical business and mugging know in Italian as "lazzi," or what we would call slapstick.
All of this is perfectly fine, because we think it's how commedia dell'arte was done. We have little idea of what such shows really were like, because our only clues are drawings and prints of performances.
However, commedia definitely is theater of style, requiring skilled and disciplined players. The ERC production has style and is stylish as well, gaudily tricked out in Stephanie Nelson's sets of patchwork red draperies and bamboo, and Natasha Vuchurovich Djukich's red, gold and blue costumes. Princes Turandot is a good story—if essentially two dimensional—strongly told by ERC in the manner of the old Organic Theater.
The players have control of movement and character essential to successful style work. Several, notably Richard Edward Frederick as the chief Eunuch, are skillful physical comedians. Others such as Jennifer Kent as the Princess and Andrew Rothenberg as the hero, Calaph, never wink as they play exaggerated dramatic moments. The fast-moving, large-cast show ( cast of 17 ) is anchored by versatile veterans such as Gary Houston, James Schneider and Laura Scott Wade.
