Harlequin
Harlequin is the name of one of the best known of the servant characters (zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte[1].
Originally Arlecchino in Italian, becoming Arlequin in French, Harlequin in English, Harlekijn or Arlekyn in Dutch and Harlekyn in Afrikaans.
Based on Harlekijn in Dutch it is the source of the noun harlekyn, usually meaning "clown"[2], in Afrikaans. (Alternative Afrikaans words for "clown" are hanswors, nar and paljas).
See also Clown
Contents
Harlequin the character
Arlecchino is the best-known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte[3], characterized by his chequered costume, and is generally believed to have been created by Zan Ganassa in the 16th century, and popularized by Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585, becoming a stock character in commedia and French comedy.[4].
Harlequinades and pantomimes containing the name performed in South Africa
The Harlequin appears as a character in numerous plays, and the name also occurs as, and in, the title of plays and performances, often referred to as "harlequinades"[5] or "pantomimes".
Click on the appropriate title below to go to the particular entry:
Harlequin Alfred the Great!, or The Magic Banjo and the Mystic Raven!
Harlequin and Mother Goose, or The Golden Egg
Harlequin and the Magic Donkey
Oud tot Jong Gemaald, of De Krommesprongen van Harlequin
Par a Par, a Gar a Nous, or Harlequin Protected by the Magician
Robinson Crusoe, or Harlequin Friday
Three Witches, or Harlequin Reanimated
Little Jack Horner, or Harlequin ABC
Arlequin, of De Gelukkige Visscher
Arlequin Protégé par Belphégor
Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves, or The Fairy Brilliantina and Harlequin and the Magic Donkey
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27arte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlequin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlequinade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown
F.C.L. Bosman. 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [6]: pp. 434.
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