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Pierrot:
When the Commedia Dell'Arte expanded from Italy to
France in the 16th century, one of the standard
characters known as Piero came to be called Pierrot. The
personality of the character underwent a metamorphosis
as well. The country bumpkin Piero transformed to play a
fuller range of emotions. Reflecting the dilemmas of his
audience, he was sometimes lovesick or frightened. His
mood and style, poetic in movement, created an empathic
touching on deep, human emotions. While the English Mime
shows featured wild wigs and reddish makeup, the French
shows had their main comic relief character appear in
white-face with neat, elegant highlights to accentuate
his features.
During the 1800s, the most
notable of the French mimes was a Pierrot player named
Jean Gaspard Deburau, the son of a Paris theatrical
director. He used his acrobatic talents to advantage,
adding a new dimension to the character. Unlike many of
his contemporaries, Deburau remained a true mime,
speaking with only his limbs and facial expressions. His
success is a major reason why the romantic Pierrot mime
is considered a continental figure today, whereas the
more decorated or painted-face clowns are historically
linked to England and the United States |
