KARACHI: Commedia dell’arte is to do with storytelling which is why it can be found everywhere in the world. The theatrical form is all about improvisation and creativity.

This was said by Italian artist Marco Luly at a press conference at the Italian consulate on Thursday evening. The artist has been conducting a workshop on the subject at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) since March 27 which will continue till March 31. A performance directed by him will also be put up on Friday (today) at the academy as part of Napa’s ongoing international festival.

Mr Luly began his address by talking about a Pashto version of the celebrated Italian playwright Dario Fo’s ‘most popular’ play Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which was to be staged a couple of hours later on Thursday. He said he was more interested in seeing the audience’s reaction to the drama.

Referring to Friday’s performance Mr Luly said it was taken from Fo’s play Mistero Buffo. He termed his experience at Napa ‘amazing’. He said it was his first visit to Pakistan where he got a chance to work with a group of students: 14 from the academy and five from other institutions. All of them, he claimed, were committed to their work.

He had given them ‘just a glimpse’ of commedia dell’arte and they worked hard on it. He then gave them a couple of scenes to do. It was three days of workshop and rehearsals that began on Thursday.

Mr Luly said commedia dell’arte meant improvisation, creativity. The actors were at different centres of the stage. “I don’t move them. I share my experience with them and receive from them their share. In this kind of theatre, I say, I show you the first step, and you need to follow me. Then I tell them to devise the characters the way they feel them.”

At that point Italian Consul-General Gianluca Rubagotti interjected to shed light on the Italian consulate’s contribution to the international music and theatre festival. He said the consulate was trying to contribute to every sector of art — film, fashion, music, etc. Secondly, he told the media, they had been lucky to ‘intercept’ Mr Luly on his Asian tour. The artist had been doing his bit all over the world and it’s not easy to persuade people to come to Pakistan. But he was one of the few who immediately accepted the offer, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2017