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Bonavera presents 'The Secrets of Harlequin'
When performing I segreti di Arlecchino (The Secrets of Harlequin) in Jakarta, renowned Italian actor Enrico Bonavera not only showcased his skills in Commedia dell’arte but also linked Italian culture to Indonesia.
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Italian Commedia dell’arte (comedic improvisation) actor Enrico Bonvera shows the audience one of the masks used during his play I segreti di Arlecchino (The Secrets of Harlequin) during a show in Jakarta. (Courtesy of the Italian Cultural Institute of Jakarta/File)
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ommedia dell’arte (art of comedy) is a form of professional theater originating from Italy, in which actors have the chance to improvise their dialogue.
Most of the time, the actors wear masks to represent different characters. Although there is dialogue, often times words are rarely used as a way for the audience to interpret the show however way they like.
The art, essentially, delves deep into the ways people communicate with each other through different gestures, signals and minimal words.
Indonesia was treated to the art through a performance by Italian maestro Enrico Bonavera, who staged I segreti di Arlecchino (The Secrets of Harlequin) at the Goethe Institute Jakarta on Aug. 3. The Italian actor visited Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java in 1993 to perform the same art.
Bonavera was invited to Jakarta this time around not only to showcase his skill in Commedia dell’arte but also to display a link between Italian culture and Indonesia.
This form of art happens to have many connections to Indonesian traditions such as the Balinese tari topeng (mask dance), which also requires masks to perform.
“[We want] to present some pieces of theater that are really a challenge. […] We want to give an example of an Italian art form — Commedia dell’arte,” said Vittorio Sandalli, Italian ambassador to Indonesia.
Through the performance, Bonavera aims to show the secrets of Commedia dell’arte and the core of this niche of theater through his point of view. It is also believed that watching the performance can be a training tool for those who may want to enter this kind of art.
“What is the performance about? Still, the question — is there even an answer? It is about Commedia dell’arte. […]. [The play] is about the core of Commedia dell’arte from the point of view of Enrico Bonavera, of course,” explained Carmencita Palermo, Balinese mask expert from the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and moderator of Bonavera’s press conference.
Bonavera first started studying and performing Commedia dell’arte more than three decades ago during the 1980s when he first stumbled upon the many masks that actors use on the field.
With his attention drawn, the actor later continued his studies from just the masks to the actual art and methods to be a Commedia dell’arte actor.
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“I came from another kind of theater. And then, when I got in touch with the mask, I started to really study the mask. But at the same time I discovered that Commedia dell’arte is a very large field where we can practice improvisation and also study Italian culture,” said Bonavera.
Before he became one of the most well-known interpreters of Harlequin — one of the main characters in the Commedia dell’arte world — he was an apprentice of legendary actor Ferruccio Soleri.
Later on, he studied experimental theatre with directors Eugenio Barba and Jerzy Grotowski at the Teatro di Ricera.
Previously, Bonavera acted in a play titled Il servitor di due padroni (The Servant of Two Masters) as his usual Harlequin and another character known as Brighella.
From 1987 to 1990 and from 2000 until present day, the Italian actor has traveled all over the world — Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, North Africa and Asia− to perform. The show was directed by Giorgio Strehler and was originally performed at the Piccolo Theatre in Milan.
Bonavera collaborated with Scuola del Teatro Stabile in Genoa as a teacher in 1990. Since then, he has also taught at the ENSATT National School of Arts and Techniques in France, the European Summer School in S. Miniato of Pisa, Teatro del Veneto in Italy and the Mask Center in Abano Terme.
He has been working as an adjunct professor since 2004 at the DAMS of the University of Imperia and is a tutor at the Commedia dell’arte Academy in the Piccolo Theatre in Milan and Shapkin Theatre School in Moscow.
The show in Jakarta was held as part of collaboration between the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute of Jakarta.
Bonavera expressed the hope the audience would feel a sense of joy through his character and acting and could relate to them.
“The message [of this play] is the poetry of human behavior, of human survival. This is a nice way to get in touch with these problems because the characters of Commedia dell’arte are really nice, sometimes silly. Also, when they are bad characters there is some childishness,” he says. “[I hope the audience could feel] inside. From the mask, there is naiveté.”
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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
