Commedia, a comedy show hosted by Mr. Ballin’s drama classes, had the audience wildly entertained and laughing out loud. The vivid acting and the hilarious skits made for a memorable and entertaining experience. The actors brought their characters to life, and their excitement for the show had the audience matched the actor’s enthusiasm with their own.

Commedia kicked off with a mime show performed by Drama 1 students. The show veered away from the conventional stereotype of miming – there were no clichéd mimes stuck in unseen boxes or climbing down invisible stairs. The lack of dialogue did not deter the actors, but made for a more powerful show as the students all found creative ways of expressing emotions by using exaggerated facial expressions, dramatic jumps, and the occasional prop, all without saying a word. The acting was extremely well done and often funny, employing dark humor, dry wit, or bright, slapstick jokes. Many of the mime performances had comical plot twists that popped up out of the blue. The skits were, in most cases, directed by the students themselves, so their acting had that much more conviction. It did mean, however, that students were working in a hectic environment.

“We rehearsed for about a month before the actual performance,” said sophomore Kayla Xu. “The setup was pretty chaotic, but I think we did well.”

The skit “Psycho Twist,” was absolutely hysterical, featuring a bunch of friends during a regular movie night that quickly goes awry, when a murderer shows up.

Other skits that really stood out included “Pizza Mania,” where a couple complains too much at a pizzeria and ends up getting poisoned by the irritated waitstaff. Another truly well-executed skit was called “Titanic”. The classic 1997 movie namesake received a lively, almost satirical update through the skit, and played out as a comedy rather than the tragedy. “Don’t Read That” was another skit where the over exaggerated expressions were truly the icing on the cake.  

After the first half, the true “Commedia” segment of Commedia began, acted out by the Advanced Drama students, and it was truly priceless.

Collins Dictionary defines Commedia as “A type of Italian comedy developed in the 16th through 18th cent. and employing a stereotyped plot (…) and stock characters such as Pantaloon, Harlequin, and Columbine.” Actors performing Commedia wear comical masks. Unlike the mime performances, Commedia relies on speech as the main method of getting the plot across.

Commedia consisted of multiple short skits, all with intertwining plots and recurring characters. The comedic characters were nothing if not memorable, and they kept getting into sticky situations.

This event was nothing but funny, creative, and entertaining.