Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716–1723 (Transnational Theatre Histories)

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, 1716-1723__explores 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. "Grounded in a thorough mastery of scholarly literature on eighteenth-century French theatre, McMahan's study ingeniously interprets Luigi Riccoboni and his troupe as theatrical migrants who used comedy as a means of cultural diplomacy. . . McMahan's innovative approach to commedia dell'arte as a "transnational brand" offers a robust contribution to Theatre and Performance Studies scholarship." --Daniel Smith, Michigan State University, USA "In bringing to the attention of an Anglophone audience a neglected theatrical figure, McMahan performs his own act of translational border crossing, which is revealing not just about its subject, but also about the value of critical work that itself moves fruitfully across all sorts of national, disciplinary, and temporal borders." --Jessica Goodman, St. Catherine's College, Oxford, UK "McMahan not only offers a vibrant, lucid history of a fascinating eighteenth-century institution, he also draws new insights from the Théâtre Italien's re-entry into France that illuminate the phenomenon of cross-cultural theatre, a defining feature of performance in the modern era." --Pannill Camp, Washington University in St. Louis, USA 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, 1716-1723 explores 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. Matthew McMahan is the Assistant Director of the Center for Comedic Arts at Emerson College, USA, where he teaches the history of comedy, sketch, and improvisation Acknowledgments 7 Contents 10 List of Figures 13 1 Introduction 14 Approach 18 Border-Crossing Comedy 25 Organization 29 References 34 2 The Italian Brand on the French Stage 39 France in Transition 41 Migrant Troupes, National Legacies 45 Failures, at Home and Abroad 47 First Impressions 52 Excellent Actors, Miserable Plays 56 Conclusion 61 References 65 3 Prologues, Metacomedy, and Cross-Cultural Rapport 68 Foreign Identities 70 Rapport 73 The Two Arlequins 76 Malleability 83 Comedy as Mode of Discourse 85 Comedy About Comedy 88 Comédie-Italienne Vs Comédie-Française 91 Conclusion 94 References 98 4 Bilingualism and Translation in Comedy 101 Language Barriers 102 Translations 105 Macaronics 108 Dialect Play in Italian Comedy 110 Tempering Expectations 114 The First Francophone Play 119 Love, the Master of Tongues 125 Conclusion 130 References 134 5 Stereotypes, Self-Deprecation, and Refracted Satire 138 Italian Volatility 140 French Liberty 144 Self-Deprecation 147 L’Italien Marié à Paris 150 L’Italien Francisé 156 Le Jaloux 159 Conclusion 165 References 168 6 Improvisation, Emotion, and Nationalized Esthetics 173 Improvisation Versus Déclamation 175 The Italian Way 180 Je Ne Sais Quoi 185 Limitations of Improvisation 191 Emotion 193 Conclusion 198 References 205 7 Parody as Transcultural Critique 209 Transcultural Parody 210 Practice in Eighteenth-Century France 213 Œdipe Travesti 218 Agnès de Chaillot 223 Defense of Parody 227 Conclusion 232 References 238 8 Epilogue 243 Other Italians in France 248 Cultural Improvisations 251 References 257 Index 259 How do nationalized stereotypes inform the reception and content of the migrant comedians work? How do performers adapt? What gets lost (and found) in translation? Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Theatre Italien, 1716-1723 explores these questions in an Early Modern context. When a troupe of commedia dellarte 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 comedians workincluding diplomacy, translation, improvisation, and parodyacross time. Matthew McMahan is the Assistant Director of the Center for Comedic Arts at Emerson College, USA, where he teaches the history of comedy, sketch, and improvisation "How do nationalized stereotypes inform the reception and content of the migrant comedians work? How do performers adapt? What gets lost (and found) in translation? Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Theatre Italien, 1716-1723 explores these questions in an Early Modern context. When a troupe of commedia dellarte 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 comedians work--including diplomacy, translation, improvisation, and parody--across time."-- Provided by publisher