Pedrolino

Pedrolino scuffles with the Doctor, 1621

Pedrolino is a primo ('first') Zanni, or comic servant, in the commedia dell'arte. The name is a hypocorism of Pedro ('Peter'), formed by adding the suffix -lino. The character first appeared in the last quarter of the 16th century and was apparently created by the actor Giovanni Pellesini, who remained closely associated with the role for many years. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers were "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", while his Bergamasque dialect identified him as belonging to the "low" rural class. Although his costume and social position were not particularly distinctive, his dramatic role certainly was. As a versatile first Zanni, his character was—and continues to be—full of comic contradictions.

Many historians of commedia dell'arte connect the Italian Pedrolino with the later Pierrot of the French Comédie-Italienne. Although a connection between the two is possible, it has not been established conclusively and appears unlikely on the basis of the limited evidence available in early Italian scenario texts.

Type, plot-function, and character

Pedrolino appears in forty-nine of the fifty scenarios in Flaminio Scala's Il teatro delle favole rappresentative (1611), as well as in three undated works from the "Corsini" manuscript collection. He also appears as "Pedrolin" in Luigi Groto's scripted comedy La Alteria, written in 1587. These works provide evidence of how the character was conceived and performed. He is clearly an example of what Robert Storey calls the "social wit", generally represented as "the go-between, the willing servant, the wily slave" who "survives in serving others".

In Scala's scenarios, which provide the clearest picture of his character, Pedrolino invariably appears as the first Zanni. The first and second Zanni are distinguished by their respective functions in the plot. The commedia critic and historian Constant Mic explains this difference by observing that the first Zanni

instigates confusion quite voluntarily, [but] the second creates disturbance through his blundering. The second Zanni is a perfect dunce; but the first sometimes gives indication of a certain instruction. ... The first Zanni incarnates the dynamic, comic element of the play, the second its static element.

As his role is "to keep the play moving", Pedrolino displays what Storey describes as a "Janus"-like character, showing two contrasting sides. In one play, Li Quattro finti spiritati [The Four Fake Spirits], he cleverly helps the Lovers by disguising himself as a magician and persuading Pantalone that Isabella and Oratio can be cured of their supposed "madness" only by being brought together. In another, Gli avvenimenti comici, pastorali e tragici [Comic, Pastoral, and Tragic Events], he gives free rein to his mischievous nature and makes the young characters' troubles even worse.

His character is so varied that his cleverness can sometimes give way to gullibility. On one occasion, he is tricked into believing that he was drunk when he learnt of his wife's infidelity and had therefore imagined the entire incident. His calculating nature can also be overcome by exaggerated sentimentality, as when he, Arlecchino and Burattino share a bowl of macaroni and all three begin to cry.

Despite these inconsistencies in his character and behaviour, Pedrolino had an identity that was "instantly recognisable" to his Renaissance audiences. As Richard Andrews explains, "The recognizability came", "from his costume; from his body language; and most of all from his style of speech, which for Italian audiences was based on a regional dialect as well as more personal idiosyncrasies." His recognisability also came from his playful enjoyment of mischief. A modern performer of commedia describes him as someone who "takes a child-like delight in practical jokes and pranks", although his other schemes are generally carried out in support of his master. At times, however, all he can do is try to escape the punishment that others have planned for him. Although he is naïvely impulsive and can resort to violence when angry, the conventions of comedy usually prevent his aggression from succeeding.

Pedrolino is generally shown wearing an entirely white costume consisting of exaggeratedly large and loose-fitting clothes. These usually include a white jacket with large buttons and comically long sleeves, a large neck ruff and a large, floppy hat. He is one of the few unmasked male characters who was not an innamorati. According to some historians of commedia dell'arte, rather than wearing a mask, Pedrolino was identified by a white, flour-like make-up known as infarinato. This make-up later influenced, in part, the appearance of the modern white-faced clown.

Pellesini

Pedrolino first appears in the historical records of commedia in 1576, when his performer Giovanni Pellesini (c. 1526–1616) is recorded in Florence, apparently leading his own troupe, known as Pedrolino. Pellesini belonged to several of the most prominent acting companies of the 16th and 17th centuries, including the Confidenti, Uniti, Fideli, Gelosi and Accessi. He was evidently "a much sought-after and highly paid guest star". His standing is further demonstrated by the prominent place given to Pedrolino in Scala's scenarios. As K.M. Lea convincingly argues, when compiling these works, Scala drew upon the talents of the "chief actors of his day ... without regard to the composition of a company at any particular period". It can therefore be concluded that both Pedrolino and Pellesini were among the leading figures of the early commedia dell'arte.

Pellesini played Pedrolino over a long period and performed before several distinguished audiences, including the Duke of Mantua at Fontainebleau while travelling with the Confidenti. His final recorded performance as Pedrolino took place in 1613, when he was eighty-seven years old, with the Accessi company at the court theatre of the Louvre. The poet Malherbe commented on the performance:

Harlequin is certainly quite different from what he was, and so is Petrolin [i.e., Pedrolino]: the first is fifty-six and the second eighty-seven. These are no longer proper ages for the theater; gay spirits and sharp wits are needed there, and one hardly finds these in bodies as old as theirs.

Pedrolino and Pierrot

Since the names of the two characters translate into the same diminutive, "Little Pete", and both occupy a similar social and dramatic position as comic servants in commedia, many writers have concluded that Pedrolino is either the "Italian equivalent" of, or the direct ancestor of, the 17th-century French Pierrot. However, no documentation from the 17th century establishes a clear link between the two characters.

"Dominique" Biancolelli, Harlequin in the first Italian troupe based in Paris in which Pierrot appeared under that name, argued that Pierrot was conceived as a Pulcinella, rather than as a Pedrolino. He wrote that the character's role

is that of a Neapolitan Pulcinella a little altered. In point of fact, the Neapolitan scenari, in place of Arlecchino and Scapino, admit two Pulcinellas, the one an intriguing rogue and the other a stupid fool. The latter is Pierot's [sic] rôle.

A more direct influence may be found in the lovesick peasant Pierrot, who speaks in a regional dialect in Molière's play Don Juan, or The Stone Guest (1665). About eight years after the play's highly successful first performance, the Italian actors made a parody of Molière's comedy entitled Addendum to "The Stone Guest". In this work, Pierrot appeared by name for the first time among the other masked characters. The role was performed by Giuseppe Giaratone, who remained closely identified with the character for the next twenty-five years.

Like Molière's character, Giaratone's Pierrot was also lovesick, a condition not associated with Pedrolino. Although Giaratone generally performed Pierrot as an Italian-style Zanni, it is probably significant that several plays preserved from his troupe portray Pierrot as a peasant speaking in a regional dialect, in the French tradition.

Pedrolino and Pierrot are clearly distinguished by the functions they perform in their respective plays. As a first Zanni, Pedrolino represents the "dynamic" element of the action, as Mic observes above. Pierrot, by contrast, functions as a second Zanni and is comparatively static. As Storey explains, Pierrot appears "in comparative isolation from his fellow masks, with few exceptions, in all the plays of Le Théâtre Italien, standing on the periphery of the action, commenting, advising, chiding, but rarely taking part in the movement around him." Pedrolino, on the other hand, is never a character who remains inactive for long.