The origins of some of its traditional characters can be traced back to the Italian commedia del'arte and it was the Victorians who really fell in love with the style and gave it a true lease of life.

In the end all comes out well, when Zerbinetta, the female lead of the Commedia del'Arte play, restores the spirits of the abandoned Ariadne of the opera, the Bacchus arrives to woo her.

Also a trained dancer, she both sings and dances en pointe in the commedia del'arte scenes of Pagliacci.

premiere as the Long Wharf Theater season opener, in a new verse translation by Richard Wilbur entitled "The Bungler." A commedia del'arte farce rather than a social satire, the play has some splendidly antic elements, but Doug Hughes' production is altogether too self-conscious.

One of the loveliest of the early porcelain companies was of course Meissen who employed the great modeller Johann Joachim Kandler who did some stunning figures based upon the Italian commedia del'arte. At the fair we shall be seeing Kandler's Pantaloon and Columbine which dates from 1742.