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26 JAN 2004
Commedia dell'arte
"The commedia dell'arte was the fullest reappropriation of the Dionysian element and its magic in modern theater.... Greiner's characterization of the commedia dell'arte could be applied to comedy in general: 'Nothing in this world is certain, everything could be revealed as illusion from moment to the next. Such a world is only tolerable if only the moment counts. Earlier events must not have been congealed into depressing "treasury of experience," future events must not be anticipated as possible threats. Thus this form of theater liberates from the heaviness of life.'"

pp.80-81. Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience -- Peter L. Berger, 1997
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