Arlecchino

Arlecchino is often called "Harlequin" in English. He is often a servant to Pantelone, Capitano, or Dottore, like the Zanni, but he is much more intelligent. He often tries to trick his masters, but usually fails. He is very quick, acrobatic, and limber. Bart Simpson is a sort of modern Arlecchino.

Arlecchino's costume (as you can see from the picture above) is a rather tight jacket and pants, with bright multi-colored patches, usually in diamond shapes. They can be in a symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern. Modern Harlequin dolls have adapted this costume to show patterns much like that on the background of this page, in several different colors.

Arlecchino wears a belt and a slapstick. You might have heard of "slapstick comedy," which is named after this prop. A slapstick is made out of two thin strips of wood separated at the handle by a half an inch or so. When the slapstick hits an object, the two strips of wood slap against each other to make a loud sound, without hurting the person being hit.

This character's mask looks a little like a cat's face. The eyes are small, round holes (but obviously big enough for the actor to see through). The forehead is low, and the eyebrows are a little crooked with evil intentions. The nose is not very big, since he is very intelligent.

Arlecchino is always moving, in acrobatic and agile ways. Therefore, the actor who plays him should be very flexible. His knees are always bent, as if he could spring up at any minute into a leap or acrobatic move. Arlecchino never walks in a straight line, opting instead to zig-zag. He walks to a waltz-like beat of 1-2-3, 1-2-3, stepping left-center-right, left-center-right. Like Zanni, Arlecchino is led by his nose--his head follows an object, and then his body goes after it.

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