The CARATTERISTA

The Caratterista role came out in the Commedia dell'Arte at the beginning of the XVIII century, so quite late, and had no connection with the play:

• he/she would tell a story, capture the audience attention for a certain time, break the present atmosphere to prepare the public for the next acting step
• he/she would usually speak a dialect, or a more or less correct language: in those times the Commedia was performing more abroad than in Italy or Venice
• he/she would take the public's attention for a few minutes to give time to his/her fellow actors to change costumes, discuss proceedings, and maybe to somebody from the troupe to pass around in the public to ask for a financial contribution
• he/she would make direct contact with the audience to test how the audience is feeling, to help future company's acting choices

I would like to see the Caratterista as sort of a drums or bass solo in Jazz, which gives the time to the other musicians to take a break and go drink something or put a new reed on their saxophone.