A History of Pantomime Part 7

Cet ill.u.s.tre comedien De son art traca la carriere: II fut le maitre de Moliere, Et la Nature fut le sien.

The last lines of an epitaph on one of these Pantomimic actors may be applied to many of them during their flouris.h.i.+ng period:--

Toute sa vie il a fait rire; Il a fait pleurer a sa mort.

Several of these admirable actors were literary men, who have written on their art, and shown that it was one. The Harlequin Cecchini composed the most ancient treatise on this subject, and was enn.o.bled by the Emperor Matthias; and Nicholas Barbieri, for his excellent acting called the Beltrame, a Milanese simpleton, in his treatise on comedy, tells us that he was honoured by the conversation of Louis XIII., and rewarded with fortune.

A sketch of Harlequin's original part is worth recording. "He is a mixture of wit, simplicity, ignorance, and grace, he is a half made up man, a great child with gleams of reason and intelligence, and all his mistakes and blunders have something arch about them. The true mode of representing him is to give him suppleness, agility, the playfulness of a kitten with a certain coa.r.s.eness of exterior, which renders his actions more absurd. His part is that of a faithful valet; greedy; always in love; always in trouble, either on his own or his master's account; afflicted and consoled as easily as a child, and whose grief is as amusing as his joy."

His costume consisted of a jacket fastened in front with loose ribbons, and pantaloons of wide dimensions, patched with various coloured pieces of cloth sewn on in any fas.h.i.+on. His beard was worn straight, and of a black colour; on his face he had a half black mask and in his belt of untanned leather he carried a wooden sword.

In Italy there were many varieties of Harlequin, the most notable being Trivelin, and Truffaldin. The dress of the former, instead of the patches symmetrically arranged, had triangular patches along the seams, and suns and moons only for patches. He wore the soft hat and hare's foot, but did not carry the wooden sword. The hare's foot denoting speed, has in all probability its origin in the winged cap of the G.o.d Mercury.

Truffaldin is a species of Harlequin, who first appeared about 1530. He represented (_truffa_, the villain) a sneaking kind of knave, and in the middle of the seventeenth century this character was very popular.

In France, about 1660, Cardinal Mazarin invited one Joseph Dominique Biancolelli, to come to Paris to give entertainments. Shortly after his arrival Biancolelli gave quite a new reading to the character of Arlechino, as he made him not only a wit and punster, but also a bit of a philosopher. Biancolelli's improvements did not end here, as he turned his attention to the dress of Arlechino, which was now made of finer and better quality, whilst the parti-coloured patches were made more artistic and attractive. On the death of Lolatelli, who, in his lifetime, had played a kind of Arlechino part, Biancolelli succeeded him, and soon sprang into prominence, and acquired a great artistic reputation. Whilst dancing before Louis XV. Biancolelli contracted a cold, which set up inflammation of the lungs, causing his death. His companions, at the theatre in which he performed, to mark the sense of their great grief, closed the theatre for a month. Biancolelli died in 1688.

As Arlechino, Biancolelli was succeeded by his son, Pierre, who played under the name of Dominique.

A Tuscan, named Gherardi, who had obtained celebrity as a singer, was the next successful French Harlequin. In consequence of a fall Gherardi met his death, in the year 1700.

Nearly a couple of decades afterwards, in 1716, Thoma.s.sin made his appearance as Harlequin, in pieces written for him by Marivaux, such as "_Le Prince Travesti_," "_La Surprise de l'Amour_," and in which he appeared with great success. So daring were Thoma.s.sin's tricks, and in such popularity was he held, that, fearful of losing their favourite like Gherardi, he was obliged to discontinue them.

Another compet.i.tor now arose to take the crown from Thoma.s.sin, and in the person of one Carlo Bertinazzi, commonly called Carlin. Our actor, Garrick, was an admirer of this famous Mime. Of Carlin, M. Sand speaks:--"Like most clever buffoons, he had a very melancholy disposition, and, as with Dominique, his gaiety was what the English term humour. It belonged to his mind, and not to his temperament."

Carlin also wrote a book ent.i.tled, "_Les Metamorphosis d'Arlequin_." In 1783 Carlin died, and his place in the favour of the public was filled by Galinetti.

The French view of the English Clown is interesting: "The English clown (whose nearest representative on the French stage is Pierrot) is an odd and fantastical being. The Florentine Stentorella alone resembles him in his jests and tricks. His strange dress seems to have been taken from the American Indians. It consists of a white, red, yellow, and green net work, ornamented with diamond-shaped pieces of stuff of various colours.

His face is floured, and streaked with paint a deep carmine; the forehead is prolonged to the top of the head, which is covered with a red wig, from the centre of which a little stiff tail points to the sky.

His manners are no less singular than his costume. He is not dumb, like our Pierrot, but, on the contrary, he sustains an animated and witty conversation; he is also an acrobat, and very expert in feats of strength."

M. Blandelaire gives a more poetical description: "The English Pierrot is not a person as pale as the moon, mysterious as silent, straight and long, like the gallows to whom we have been accustomed in Deburean. The English Pierrot enters like the tempest, and tumbles like a parcel; his laugh resembles joyous thunder. He is short and fat; his face is floured and streaked with paint; he has a great patch of red on each cheek; his mouth is enlarged by prolongation of the lips by means of two red bands, so that when he laughs his mouth appears to open from ear to ear."

The Pierrots--not only in France, but on the Continent generally--took all the characteristics of the Zanys, Bertoldo, Paggliaccio, Gros, Giullaume, Pedrolino, Gilles, Corviello, and Peppe Nappa, of the Italian Comedy, and all owing at least their original conception to the theatres of the Greeks, and the Romans. On the Italian stage there was not a princ.i.p.al Clown like in England, the foremost place being occupied by Arlechino. The four princ.i.p.al masked characters of the Italian _Comedia del' Arte_ in Venice consisted of Tartaglia (a stammerer), Truffildino, Brigh.e.l.la (a representative of orators and public personages), and Pantaloon (a native of Venice). The name of Pantaloon is derived from _planta-leone_ (_plante-lion_--he planted the lion). The probable meaning of it in this particular is that the Venetian merchants, it is said, in boasting of their conquests set up their standard--the Venetian standard being the lion of St. Mark--on various islands in the Mediterranean, and from which they were nicknamed, it is said, "plant lion." A more probable derivation of the word is that the ancient patron saint of Venice is San Pantaleone. St. Pantaleone's day is July 27. He was martyred A.D. 303. In "Childe Harold," Lord Byron, in Canto IV., stanza 14, has that "The Venetian name of Pantaleone is her very by-word."

Pantaloon has been, at various times, husband, father, and widower.

Sometimes he is rich, then poor, and occasionally a spendthrift. The dress that he wore consisted of tight red breeches, rather short, a long black robe, red stockings and waistcoat, a little woollen skull-cap and slippers.

When the Venetian republic lost Negropont mourning generally was adopted, and Pantaloon adopted it with the rest, and on the Continent mourning has, I believe, formed a component part of Pantaloon's dress ever since.

In 1750 Darbes, in Italy, was one of the best Pantaloons. Darbes, on one occasion, ventured to play this character in one of Goldoni characters, without a mask, and which, we are told, was a failure. A similar attempt was made on the English stage, which I have previously referred to.

Mention has been previously made of females appearing on the stage during the Grecian and Roman periods. From this, however, there arose on the Italian stage, in after years, the _Servetta_ or _Fantesca_, a kind of waiting maid, or "accomplished companion" part, and called later, in France, _Soubrette_, and the origin of which, in all probability, can be traced to the _Mimas_ of _Pantomimus_.

In the sixteenth century mention is made of a troupe of performers known as _Amorosos_ or _Innamortos_, appearing in Italy. Those who only appeared in the female parts were known as Colombina, Oliva, Fianetta, Pasquella, and Nespella. Columbina's part, the "accomplished companion,"

like the _Vita_ of the Indian Drama, was sometimes that of mistress, and sometimes that of maid. Up to 1560 women were unknown on the Italian stage. In England just one hundred years later.

Three generations of the family of Biancolelli, the Harlequin, grandmother, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter appeared as Columbines in France. The most talented was Catherine, the daughter of Dominique, and she made her _debut_ in 1683, in "_Arlequin Protee_,"

with great success.

About 1695, Columbine appeared in a parti-coloured gown like a female Harlequin, and in the piece "_Le Retour de la foie de Besons_," acted at the Comedie Italiene. As the innovation was much liked, the part of Columbine came to be dressed like the Harlequin. The Columbine dressed in short muslin skirts is a creation of modern times. In the French Comedies Columbine was often Harlequin's wife, but she never had the powers of a magical wand.

In the old form of Pantomime there were many other personages in these dumb shows which we never had in the English Pantomimes. To note a few of them:--The Captain, a bragging swash-buckler; the Apothecary, a half-starved individual with a red nose; and a female _soubrette_, who acted for her mistress, Columbine, similar duties as what Clown performed as valet for his master. The Doctor brought at first on the stage in 1560, was supposed to be a lawyer or a physician. From 1560 his dress was that of a professor's, a short, black tunic, stockings, and a black mask covering the forehead and nose. Another, Facanappa, had a long parrot nose, surmounted by a pair of green spectacles, a flat hat, with a broad brim, a waistcoat covered with tinsel, and a long white coat with large pockets. Like the Clown of our early English plays, and like his ancestors, the _Atellans_ and _Mimes_, he had the privilege of making allusions from the stage, in what, I suppose, were something like the Interludes. Il Barone is another variety. He was a Sicilian lord, deceived by his daughter, and also duped by his valets. "_Il Barone_"

was a favourite subject for another form of "Miming," that of the wooden figures called Marionettes.

Marionette entertainments were known both to the Greeks and the Romans.

The adventures of "_Don Juan_" and "_Don Giovanni_," of the Italian Opera, in all probability sprang originally from the adventures of Punch in the puppet shows.

Puppet shows introduced into France (_temp._ Charles IX.) from Italy, where they were and are still known as _Fantoccini_, by Marion--hence their name--and then into this country, are mentioned by Shakespeare, Pepys, Jonson, Swift, and the Essayists.

Puppet shows, in this country, were formerly known as "Motions."

Shakespeare's Antolycus frequented fairs and the like, and he also composed a "Motion" of "The Prodigal Son." Mystery plays were also represented by puppets.

In England, especially at Bartholomew Fair, they were always very popular, and the chief survivor of this form of "dumb show" is "Mr.

Punch" of our streets, whose ancient history I have briefly mentioned in another chapter, but not that of "Mrs. Punch," on whose history I am unable--however so brief--to throw any light.

Let us now, dear reader, return to England, and trace in this country something more of the History of Pantomime, and for which we will now open another chapter.

CHAPTER XIII.

Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"--Pantaloon--Tarleton, the Clown--Extemporal Comedy--The Poet Milton--Ben Jonson--The Commonwealth--"A Reign of Dramatic Terror"--Robert c.o.x and his "Humours"

and "Drolleries"--The Restoration.

It has been thought that our dramatic poet, Ma.s.singer, drew upon the Italian Comedy for the humour of some of his plays. That there was some form of intercourse between the English and Italian stage is shown by the discovery of one of the Italian Scenarios, or "Platts," as we know them, at Dulwich College, which discovery Steevens describes as "a mysterious fragment of ancient stage direction, and of a species of dramatic entertainment which no memorial is preserved in any annals of the English stage." The "Platt," written in a large hand, "And containing directions, was thought to have been affixed near the prompter's stand, and it has even an oblong hole in its centre to admit of being suspended on a wooden peg (Disraeli). On it, and in a familiar way, appear the names of the players, such as: Pigg, White and Black, d.i.c.k and Sam, Little Will Barne, Jack Gregory, and the Red-faced fellow."

A "Platt" of the "Seven Deadly Sinnes," supposed to have been written by d.i.c.k Tarleton, the famous Clown, is preserved, I believe, in Dulwich College. It consists of a pasteboard fifteen inches high, and nine in breadth, and on it is written, in two columns, the following:--

"A tent being placed on the stage for Henry the Sixth; he in it asleep.

To him the lieutenant, and a pursuivant (R. Cowley, Jo. Duke), and one warder (R. Pallant). To them Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Covetousness at one door; at another door Envy, Sloth, and Lechery. The three put back the four, and so _exeunt_.

"Henry awaking, enter a keeper (J. Sinclair), to him a servant (T. Belt), to him Lidgate and the keeper. _Exit_, then enter again--then Envy pa.s.seth over the stage. Lidgate speaks."

These "Platts" were, in all probability, one of the first written forms of Pantomimic entertainments known in England, and borrowed, as mentioned, from the Scenarios of the Italians. That form of home amus.e.m.e.nt well-known in family circles, "Acting Charades," may be likened to them.

To get all the information that we can obtain of the "Platts," I am sure I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Isaac Disraeli, well a.s.sured that they will be more acceptable than any I can make.

Some of these "Platts" are on solemn subjects, like the tragic Pantomimes; and in some appear "Pantaloon, and his man Peascod, with _spectacles_." Steevens observes, that he met with no earlier example of the appearance of Pantaloon, as a specific character on our stage; and that this direction concerning "the spectacles" cannot fail to remind the reader of a celebrated pa.s.sage in "As you like it." (Scene 6, Act II.).

... "The sixth age s.h.i.+fts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon; With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side; His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound."

Perhaps, he adds, Shakespeare alludes to this personage, as habited in his own time. The old age of Pantaloon is marked by his leanness, and his spectacles and his slippers. He always runs after Harlequin, but cannot catch him; as he runs in slippers and without spectacles, is liable to pa.s.s him by without seeing him. Can we doubt that this Pantaloon had come from the Italian theatre, after what we have already said? Does not this confirm the conjecture, that there existed an intercourse between the Italian theatre and our own? Further, Tarleton, the comedian, celebrated for his "Extemporal wit," was the writer or inventor of one of these "Platts." Stow records of one of our actors that "he had a quick, delicate, refined _Extemporal wit_." And Howes, the continuator of Stow's Chronicles of another, that "he had a wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, _Extemporal_ wit."

Praiseworthy reference is also made of Tarleton in "Kinde-Hart's Dream," 4to., published in 1592. In 1611 a book was published ent.i.tled "Tarleton's Jeasts." Tarleton was so celebrated in his time that his portrait was hung out as a sign for alehouses. "To sit with Tarleton on an ale-post's signe," observes Bishop Hall in his satires. Oldys, in his M.S. notes, mentions that "There is an alehouse sign of a tabor and pipe man, with the name of Tarleton under it, in the borough of Southwark, and it was taken from the print before the old 4to. book of 'Tarleton's Jeasts;' and Lord Oxford had a portrait of him with his tabor and pipe, which was probably taken from the pamphlet called 'Tarleton's Jeasts,'

on the t.i.tle page of which there is a wooden plate of Tarleton, at full length in his Clown's dress, playing on his pipe with one hand, and beating his drum with the other."

These actors then (continues Mr. Disraeli), who were in the habit of exercising their impromptus, resembled those who performed in the unwritten comedies of the Italians. Gabriel Harvey, the Aristarchus of the day, compliments Tarleton for having brought forward a _new species of dramatic exhibition_. If this compliment paid to Tarleton merely alludes to his dexterity at _extemporaneous wit_ in the character of the _Clown_, as my friend Mr. Douce thinks, this would be sufficient to show that he was attempting to introduce on our stage the Extemporal Comedy of the Italians, which Gabriel Harvey distinguishes as "a new species."