The Year 10 Drama students were given the opportunity to workshop with the masks of Commedia dell’Arte to expand their knowledge base and their acting skills.
The after-school workshop was run by Dennis Murphy (a Sydney actor and puppeteer) who taught the girls more about Commedia and its Italian origins, and provided them the opportunity to experiment with masks and character of tharly but influential genre of theatre.
Dennis Murphy is Australia’s leading exponent of Commedia dell’Arte. While he performs in both Mask and Puppetry, his real passion is for the Puppetry branch of the art.
Dennis’ puppetry has won him widespread acclaim in Australia and the ‘Ural Citation’ for excellence in Russia. In Italy he presents his shows in Italian and has performed in a wide variety of venues from atop the medieval walls of Treviso to an outdoor fair in the shadows of Juliet’s castle. Dennis represented Australia at the 1998 ‘Teatri del Mondo Festival’ in Italy.
He commutes regularly to Italy to perform at puppet festivals and to carry out research. The theatre critic of Rome’s L’UNITA newspaper called him “one of the world’s greatest puppeteers”. Over the last decade Dennis has shared his
passion for the “Commedia dell’ Arte” tradition with tens of thousands of Australian school children.
Learn more about Commedia dell’Arte:
Wikipedia
Commedia dell'Arte
4 comments:
Working with the masks was more fun than i thought it would be! This experience has certainly expanded my knowledge of drama.
This was a different experience in drama 2011 and was fun; Dennis Murphy was excessively expressive and made sure we had as much interaction and involvement as we could while still learning. Time went by way to fast.
Sometimes an opportunity comes along and you don't realise at the time, just how SPECIAL it is.
For me this was one of those moments. A casual invitation teamed with a nothing really better to do shrug of the shoulders, turned into a thrill a minute date with a masked man. It was just so interesting. He was so good at his craft,that's for sure. With my hobby of performing puppets....HE WAS THE MAN!!!!!!!!!
With uneven numbers, and pairs needed for the physical aspect of the workshop, I was LUCKY enough to join in and participate. Again I thoroughly enjoyed it all. The making up of stories involving the mask and performing it out, was a clear cut winner with everyone. Thanks for letting me fill a space in the Drama room. I could see why he would be very popular where ever he goes. He certainly was, in our neck of the woods. Thankyou also to my partner, We both had fun, got into character and learnt many things. Another new interest has arisen. Well worth coming for.The masks were ALL just superb. Each one had been used in a thousand stories through out the land without a doubt. FANTASTIC Get him again! I hope the word gets around next time to come out of the woodwork. Roll up Roll up !!
I loved this. So interesting using the mask. Instead of hiding behind it it became one of the strongest features of the character, and emphasized there personality and traits
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