ABSTRACT
Duringits"goldenage"of1565-1620,theprofessionalItaliantheaterthathas cometobeknownasthecommediadell'arteperformedbeforeamuchwiderrange ofaudiencesthanattendedthenonprofessional,scriptedtheaterofthecontemporarycommediaerudita.Thelattertheater,performedinthecourtsandthe academies,couldlargelycountonitsaudienceasa"reliablepresence,"andthe aristocraticspectatorswereasocialandculturalreflectionofthedilettanteactors. 1 Theearlyhumanisttheaterdevelopedbetween1480-1520inthecourtsand academiesofFerrara,Mantua,Urbina,andRomeundertheswayofAriostoand othersanticipatedtheeighteenth-centurynotionofthetheateraudienceasarbiter andjudge.2AriostoproducedhisPlautineplaysforacourtlyaudiencewithan imperfectknowledgeoftheclassicaldramaticgenrestragedyandcomedy (obscuredastheyhadbeenbymedievalmisconceptions),butactedunderthe assumptionthattherewasapublicoflike-mindedhumanistprincipleswho,if rightlyinstructed,wouldconfirmhishumanistexperiments.Althoughthecommedia eruditaofAriosto,Bibbiena,Machiavelli,andotherswasamuchmoreinnovative theaterthanhascommonlybeensupposed,3itscourtlyandacademicaudiences tendedtomirrorbacktotheplaywrightandperformertheirownhumanist sophisticationandculturalassumptions.Forthecommediadell'arte,ontheother hand,theaudiencewasanunstable,unpredictablequantity,andbecameacritical issuebothoftheoreticalspeculationandpracticalsurvival.Thisessayattempts toreconstructtheaudienceofthecommediadell'arteduringitsclassicalperiod: boththeactualaudience-asmuchasthelimiteddocumentationallows-andthe ideaoftheaudienceasarticulatedinattacksanddefensesofthetheater.
