‘The Breath of Love’
“Confident, fast-paced and very funny”
- A. Pride, audience member
“Amazing! Best money I’ve spent in a long time”
- N. Wooldridge, audience member
Unscrupulous masters, artful servants, the dead and … the undead
The year is 1590 and the wind of change is blowing through the field of knowledge. Doctor Leglimbo, renowned alchemist, is on the brink of a profound discovery – a divine elixir that will open Death’s door and guide the departed back into the light. Missing a key component, he enlists his hapless servant Harlequin to capture the vital vapour … But, when love is in the air and everyone is out to get rich, who knows where their greed will take them?
Performance & Workshop package for education settings
The Breath of Love was devised as an immersive Commedia dell’Arte experience to transport students back to Renaissance Italy to watch an authentic troupe of players perform a traditional style scenario and then take part in an exhilarating workshop to explore the style further.
“There was the perfect balance between watching and learning, and letting (students) also get involved. It was a really excellent workshop. It was also great that you all seemed to have such good control of a large number of children.”
“There is really no substitute, when teaching commedia dell’arte, for seeing it enacted live … a very professional, participatory and educational session”
Punch’s Progress
We are delighted to be able to share with you a 30 minute version of The Breath of Love, recorded in February 2020 to celebrate International Commedia dell’Arte Day.
For now, this show is on the shelf….. our next one is in planning so watch this space!
The Troupe offers a fantastic introduction to physical performance for any age group. It is an ideal curriculum support for:
Introducing devising or physical theatre
A Level set text studies connected to commedia dell’arte or farce: The Servant of Two Masters, Accidental Death of An Anarchist, Tartuffe, The Government Inspector
IB Theatre Research
Supporting study of Shakespeare or Molière
“We got to learn how real practitioners work in Commedia and seeing it performed in front of me made it way more understandable”
Fast-track learning
Watching the show, students gain an insight into the exaggerated nature of the characters, the pace and collaborative energy required, and the rhythmic interactions and physical discipline of a typical commedia dell’arte performance. This provides a firm foundation and springboard for rapid skills acquisition as students learn how to characterise and bring the masks to life under the expert tutelage of our performer-coaches.
Students acquire transferable physical performance skills:
Greater physical awareness and expression
Confidence to fully embody characters
Vocal and physical discipline
Techniques for performing in masks
Ensemble and stage awareness
Techniques for spontaneous improvisation and devising
Inspiration for their own performance work
“A charming and slick show, demonstrating one of Commedia dell’Arte’s strengths: the ability to create laughter and entertainment from the flimsiest of plots. The skill of the two lead actors, switching between roles, bewitches and beguiles, and in this they are ably assisted by Zanni, their omnipresent servant. It is a credit to the actors’ alertness and comic skills that they incorporated several unforeseen accidents into the show (when I saw it), something many other companies would baulk at”
