Zanni

Zanni (Italian: [ˈdzanni]), Zani or Zane is a character type of Commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside. The Zanni is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker". Throughout time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in commedia as early as the fourteenth century. The English word derives from this persona.

The name Zanni (as well as Zuan) is a Venetian variant of the name Gianni and was common in the Lombard-Venetian countryside which provided most of the servants to the wealthy nobles and merchants of Venice. In Italian it is specifically a name of someone whose identity is not of any importance. It is one of the oldest characters in Commedia dell'arte but over the course of time became subdivided into a number of similar characters with more specific traits. These included Arlecchino, Pulcinella, Mezzettino and Truffaldino, as well as Beltrame and Brighella. Arlecchino, for example, was more representative of a jester than an ordinary servant and was frequently depicted as very acrobatic. Zanni was shortened to Zan when used to provide further identification of an individual. For example, Zan Ganassa was the stage name of Alberto Naseli, who was one of the first actors specializing in Zanni roles to perform outside of Italy.

The performance of a commedia actor relies on the acting itself. A scenario should be playable in different ways and seem different each time the audience sees it. The actors who play Zanni must be clever and equally talented, because an actor's success relies primarily on his dialogue partner. If the partner does not reply to him at the right moment or interrupts him in the wrong place, the actor’s “discourse falters and the liveliness of his wit is extinguished”. He must be acrobatic, able to walk on his hands and on stilts, dance, skip and somersault. In this respect, the Zanni is one of the most physically demanding of all the Masks.

The Zanni’s costume usually consists of white baggy clothing. This was similar to the dress of peasants and farmworkers of the time. A specific type of Zanni, Brighella, wore accents of green to indicate his tricky and devious nature.Arlecchino, however, was known for his irregular colored patches that eventually became the essence of the entire outfit. The Zanni are also known to sport a peaked hat and a wooden sword. The Zanni at first wore a full faced carnival mask, but because of the need for dialogue between Pantalone and the Zanni, the bottom of the mask was hinged and eventually cut away altogether. The longer the nose of the Zanni, the stupider he is said to be.

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