Editing Italy (section)

=== Theatre ===
{{Main|Theatre of Italy}}
[[File:Gemälde des Hieronymus Francken - Die Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi bei einer Aufführung in Paris.jpg|thumb|[[Commedia dell'arte]] troupe [[I Gelosi]] performing, by [[Hieronymus Francken I]], {{circa|1590}}]]

Italian theatre came about in the Middle Ages, with its antecedents dating back to ancient Greek colonies in southern Italy ([[Magna Graecia]]),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Storia del Teatro nelle città d'Italia|url=https://www.melogranoarte.it/storia-del-teatro-nelle-citta-ditalia|access-date=27 July 2022|language=it}}</ref> as well as the theatre of the [[Italic peoples]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Storia del teatro: lo spazio scenico in Toscana|url=https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itinerari/itinerario/storiateatrospazioscenicotoscana.html|access-date=28 July 2022|language=it}}</ref> and the [[theatre of ancient Rome]]. There were two main lines along which theatre developed. The first, dramatization of Catholic liturgies, and the second, formed by pagan forms of spectacle, such as staging for city festivals, court preparations of jesters, and songs of the [[troubadour]]s.<ref>Of this second line, Dario Fo speaks of a true alternative culture to the official one: although widespread as an idea, some scholars such as {{Ill|Giovanni Antonucci|it}} do not agree in considering it as such. In this regard, see {{Cite book|last=Antonucci|first=Giovanni|title=Storia del teatro italiano|publisher=Newton Compton Editori|year=1995|isbn=978-8-8798-3974-7|pages=10–14|language=it}}</ref> Renaissance theatre marked the beginning of modern theatre. Ancient theatrical texts were translated and staged at courts, and moved to public theatres. In the late 15th century, the cities of [[Ferrara]] and Rome were important for the rediscovery and renewal of theatre.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Antonucci|first=Giovanni|title=Storia del teatro italiano|publisher=Newton Compton Editori|year=1995|isbn=978-8-8798-3974-7|page=18|language=it}}</ref>

During the 16th into the 18th century, [[commedia dell'arte]] was a form of [[improvisational theatre]], and is still performed. Travelling troupes of players set up an outdoor stage and provided amusement in the form of [[juggling]], [[acrobatics]], and humorous plays. Plays did not originate from written drama, but scenarios called ''[[lazzi]]'', loose frameworks around which actors would improvise. The characters of the ''commedia'' usually represent fixed social types and stock characters, each of which has a distinct [[Costumes in commedia dell'arte|costume]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Chaffee, Judith|title=The Routledge Companion to Commedia Dell'Arte|last2=Crick, Olly|publisher=Rutledge Taylor and Francis Group|year=2015|isbn=978-0-4157-4506-2|location=London and New York|page=1}}</ref> The first recorded commedia dell'arte performances came from Rome as early as 1551.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Katritzky|first=M. A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fV4gz5FmiAC&q=the+art+of+commedia|title=The Art of Commedia: A Study in the Commedia dell'arte 1560–1620 with Special Reference to the Visual Records |publisher=Editions Rodopi|year=2006|isbn=978-9-0420-1798-6|location=New York|page=82}}</ref> Female roles were played by women, documented as early as the 1560s, making them the first known professional actresses in Europe since antiquity. [[Lucrezia Di Siena]], named on a 1564 contract, has been referred to as the first Italian actress known by name, with [[Vincenza Armani]] and [[Barbara Flaminia]] as the first [[prima donna]]s.<ref>Giacomo Oreglia (2002). Commedia dell'arte. Ordfront. {{ISBN|9-1732-4602-6}}.</ref>

Ballet originated in Italy during the Renaissance, as an outgrowth of court pageantry.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Ballet|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/balt/hd_balt.htm|website=metmuseum.org|date=October 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Andros on Ballet – Catherine Medici De|url=http://www.michaelminn.net/andros/index.php?de_medici_catherine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209205503/http://www.michaelminn.net/andros/index.php?de_medici_catherine|archive-date=9 February 2008|website=michaelminn.net}}</ref>