A-Z: General definitions: Harlequinade

Definition

Originally the part of a pantomime that featured the Harlequin, a character originating from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte, who would be masked and dressed in a diamond-patterned costume. Initially, the harlequinade was a silent mime act with music and stylised dance, which provided the comic closing part of a longer evening of serious entertainment. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the harlequinade was performed at the end of the first act, as part of a spectacular transformation scene before the interval. See Drama Developments article Commedia dell'Arte

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