Character Name:

Zanni

Zanni is both singular and plural, the Venetian diminutive of Giovanni. It can be both a generic name, referring to all zanni or the name of an actual Mask when the character is not defined further as being Arlechinno, Brighella, Pedrolino, etc. In the sixteenth century it was also shortened to Zan as a prefix to further identification: Zan Paolo, Zan Ganasso, etc. In Italian, it is simply the name given to any unnamed character, a person whose actual identity you cannot be bothered to dsicover. I was once acquainted with a man who had the patronizing habit of calling all non-Caucasians 'George'. My own name suffers the same utility, so I am familiar with such familiarity: "All right, John!" However, by way of compensation, zanni also gives us 'zany' in English. - John Rudlin

Generic name for a comic servant. - Gordon

Status:

Bottom of pecking order. Zanni is that regrettably eternal unfortuante, the dispossessed immigrant worker. (Rudlin)

Costume:

Baggy, white, originally made of flour sacks. (Rudlin)

Origin (History):

The Bergamase peasant up from the country (Giovanni was the most common name in the mountains of the Valle Orobia) seeking to earn a living portering and odd-jobbing in the towns of Northern Italy. When Bergamo was conquered by Venice, famine set in on the countryside, since the peasantry were not able to price their wares competitively: the markets were flooded with cheap imports based on slave labor from Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. Between them the two major city states of Venice and Genoa literally swallowed everything. 'Gnawing at the hinterland they killed off the indigenous markets. For tens of thousands this meant poverty and starvation. Behind [zanni] stands the terrible reality of a population uprooted and crushed. For many, migration to the very cities which had caused the disaster was the only option. (Rudlin)

Garzoni described these migrant would-be workers as "coarse fellows, simple and good natured enough, who come down from the mountains of Bergamo to fetch and carry for the rest of mankind... They hawk food and wines about the city, the poorest are basket-weavers and others carry coals [and] they ply for errands in the square with sacks slung over their shoulder... parcels, packages, and bundles and carry them off on their shoulders to the other end of the city."

And for the ladies, he reported that they 'do their errands with their particular sweethearts'. 'As a mountain race' he continues,

"the facchini [literally 'carriers of bundles', hence 'porters'] are as tough as timber, but not bulky, the sturdiest people you ever saw and except for a few who have become lean with hardship, they are as round as the bottom of a barrel and as fat as the broth of macaroni... Their dress is utterly uncivilized, and you can smell zanni who are like magpies to mimic a pronunciation or any other characteristic have adopted it in their comedies to entertain the crowd."

Physical Appearance:

Mask:

Originates in the full-face Carnival mask parodying a facchino, but, with the development of the short plays known as Zannata, with improvised dialogue between Pantalone and various zanni, the bottom had to be hinged and was finally cut away altogether. As with other Commedia characters, the longer Zanni's nose, the more stupid he is. (Rudlin)

Signature Props:

Temporary custodian of anything (especially bags, letters, valuables, food, etc.) that belonds to someone else. (Rudlin)

Stance:

Has a lowered center of gravity; either because he comes from the earth, or as a result of carrying heavy bags and sedan chairs. Zanni stands with an arched back, with his knees bent and apart and his feet splayed. The support knee is bent with the other leg extended, toe pointed. He changes feet repeatedly while talking or listening within the same position and without his head bobbing up and down. The elbows are bend and the arms half lifted. Vertical sleeping is done standing on one bent leg eith the other foot crossed over to the knee. The support side arm crosses the waist to support the other elbow, the arm of which goes vertically up so the palm can provide a prop for the nodding head. (Rudlin)

Walk:

1.) Little Zanni walk: this is a development of the basic stance, foot changing but taking a small step forward on each shift. The shoulders down, elbows forward, feet pointed. The knees come high off the ground and to the side. Use a two-time rhythm in even beats with the head pecking like a chicken, but still without bobbing up and down. Zanni uses this walk when going somewhere, but with no great purpose.

2.) Big Zanni walk: a curved lumbar is first achieved by sticking chest forward and the backside up (this is very demanding to sustain and should be complemented by a forward spinal release when out of character). With the feet in fourth extended, bend the support knee and lower the center of gravity. Raise the front and back and make a scything foot. This walk is is purposeful: for example slowly trying to cross the stage without being noticed or quickly escaping the consequences of an action without drawing attention to it.

3.) Zanni running: a swift movement with legs kicked alternately to the front with pointed toes. Arms move with opposite legs.

4.) Zanni jubilant: a skipping movement on the toes with center of gravity shifting from side to side. Rest hands on belt, which is roughly at hip level. Head able to move independently, as always.

5.) Vain Zanni: steps are smaller version of the big walk, hands again resting on belt. When the leg lifts, the chest is thrust forward and the arms brought back in the chicken strut. Used when he has a new button or a feather in his cap.

6.) Soilder Zanni: hold a stick cupped in one hand and inclined over shoulder like a rifle. In the march, shoulders move up and down in two-time but the feed do three beats. 'Trampety-tramp, tramperty-tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp...' (Rudlin)

Poses:

Crouching with elbows on knees and chin in hands.

Collapsing completely into a puddle.

Feet splayed, bent forward at hips elbows slightly raised.

Sleeping standing up

Movements:

Dynamic, exaggerated, the head constantly moving independently of body. The quicker-thinker zanni are more agile and their shorter noses permit them to do acrobatics. (Rudlin)

Gestures:

Zanni's actions are always urgent. He appears nervous, talks a lot, his head moves constantly. The nose defines the rhythm of his body since it is the center of his actions. The hands are very expressive and constantly used to illustrate what he is saying. All Zanni's bodily functions instantly and loudly make themselves known. He often sleeps by alternate farting and snoring. Sometimes his body becomes completely alien to him and different parts of it take on their own animation in order to act out an imaginary situation. (Rudlin)

Speech:

Loud, open-mouthed: The coarsened voice of someone who makes an outdoor living by making themselves heard in a market or a busy street.

Animal:

A Troll, Smurf, or magical, lovable yet beast-like character. (Shane)

A Walrus

An ox (Rudlin)

Relationships:

A scenario must have two zanni (at least): The first is foxy and astute, the second more stultus - an ox, beast type, (il furbo and il stupido), but this distinction should not be absolute. Between them they might make up one person of less than average intelligence, in 60/40 proportions. Total cleverness is not funny, neither is total mental disability. Zanni often has the function of being addressed, particularly by Il Capitano, in order to prevent monologue. He is everyone's 'gofer'. The facchini were greatly disliked by the Venetians, but Zanni has frequent dialogues with Pantalone in a symbiosis of status and temperment. (Rudlin)

Relationship to Audience:

He has the possibility of direct, four-square address to the audience, because he is the most sympathetic character. He treats the audience collectively. (Rudlin)

Frequent Plot Function:

The principal contributor to any confusion. (Rudlin)

Characteristics:

His survival instinct is strongest of all the Commedia archetypes. He suffers from the spasms of an ancestral hunger which is his basic, everyday condition; he is, as a result, insatiable, but capable of being spiritedly ironical about his plight. This great hunger leads to a vision of Utopioa where everything is comestible, reminiscent of the followers of gluttony in Carnival processions. His pre-Christian, animistic view of the worldmeans he senses a spirit in everything: therefore it could be eaten. Hunger is a universal problem and, comedically at least, is capable of a universal solution. Zanni is ignorant and loutish, and has no self-awareness. The very act of thinking is alien to him - the very sight of Zanni straining to give birth to an idea is risible. But he is astute in knavery; a loafer, but willing and able to dish out heavy thwacks with this slapstick; intolerant of discipline and authority, but very faithful. He lives totally in the present: he never, for example, looks for somewhere to sleep, sleep just happens to him, often in totally unsuitable situations. All his reactions are emotional. (Rudlin)

Lazzi:

Lazzi of poor sight. Speaks in the direction of the last person to speak. That person moves but Zanni continues to talk to them as if they are there.

Lazzi of poor hearing. Can't understand what people are saying to him, or repeats back gross misinterpretations.

Lazzi of dropping what he is doing for a banana.

Lazzi of wandering out of the playing area aimlessly and quickly reappearing in another part of the playing area which he could not have possibly gotten to.

Commedia dell'Arte: An Actor's Handbook by John Rudlin.  Routledge 1994

Commedia dell'arte: A Scene-Study Book by Bari Rolfe.  Personabooks 1977

The Commedia dell'Arte by Winifred Smith, New York, 1912

The Italian Comedy by Pierre Louis Ducharte.  Dover Publications, inc.  1966

Lazzi: The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell'Arte by Mel Gordon.  Performing Arts Journal Publications  1983

Scenarios of the Commedia dell'Arte:  Flaminio Scala's Il Teatro Delle Favole Rappresentative translated by Henry F. Salerno Limelight Editions  1996

All other comments have come from growth and experience of the performers of Commedia dell'Carte