Overview
Analysis of improvisation as a compositional practice in the Commedia
dell'Arte and related traditions from the Renaissance to the 21st
century. Domenic Pietropaolo takes textual material from the stage
traditions of Italy, France, Germany and England, and covers comedic
drama, dance, pantomime and dramatic theory, and more. He shines a
light onto 'the signs of improvised communication'. The book is
comprehensive in its analysis of improvised dramatic art across
theatrical genres, and is multimodal in looking at the spoken word,
gestural and non-verbal signs. The book focusses on dramatic text as
well as: - The semiotics of stage discourse, including semantic,
syntactic and pragmatic aspects of sign production - The physical and
material conditions of sign-production including biomechanical
limitations of masks and costumes. Semiotics and Pragmatics of Stage
Improvisation is the product of an entire career spent researching the
semiotics of the stage and it is essential reading for semioticians and
students of performance arts.