And the Beat Goes On: The Heart of Commedia dell’arte

Niçois artist Frédéric Rey continues to bring life, laughter and love through the art of comedy with the Festival International de Commedia dell’arte de Nice.

“When I studied with Didi Hopkins in London,” Rey recounted, “she explained that breathing is the start of the emotion. So you have to find something not in your psychology, not in what you are feeling yourself but about breath and body, body gesture, and body expression.”

For the 11th festival running 5 June through 18 June, 2026, Rey has curated another eclectic programme that brings back local heroine Catarina Segurana ! and her feisty fight for La Bella Nissa; Molière (by way of La Princesse d’Elide); the second installation of Mistero Buffo; commedia master Carlo Boso (directing two productions this year); artist and teacher Patrick Forian; and companies from other parts of France, Italy, as well as Canada. 

After more than eight months of work, booking and pre-productions, the 2026 edition boasts over 50 artists who will breathe life unto Arlecchino, Colombina, Pantalone, Pulcinella, the Innamorati, among other staple characters of commedia. And from their characters’ first breaths, the natural reactions of the body then follow, transforming small motions into grand, stylised gestures that evolve into comedy. Before the audience realizes it, they are taken for a ride by these wacky yet familiar guides.

Rey described that “if you are playing Pantalone the old man, you will use this kind of hands like hooks, like claws. So the audience understands that this character is evil or can be angry or can be joyful or can be sad – just by seeing the body and with breathing.”

Rey pointed out that these characters may already seem familiar to English audiences, most especially in Shakespeare’s plays. He noted that Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) is Pantalone, the wealthy Venetian miser – euh, merchant; Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is Pulcinella, the schemer; and of course there’s the Innamorati – the Lovers that always end up being the stars (and cause) of Shakespeare’s Comedies. 

The commedia style also made an appearance in the early 20th century during the silent film era comedies where villains laughed maniacally and bumbling sidekicks could barely cross the room without a token pratfall. But it’s these stock situations in an absurd comical way that make them familiar and accessible.

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What makes the perennial commedia characters even more unique are their specific superpowers, if you will – a special talent in fencing, acrobatics or singing and dancing, developed to a masterful art. But together, the troupe form a sort of DC Comics Super Friends. “It’s the art of comedy,” said Rey. “The dimension of the team on the stage is very important. Everybody is specialised in some techniques.”

Patrick Forian’s master class, presented as part of the festival, will provide an introductory glimpse of these characters, gestures, and the important use of masks to identify and reveal. Where one might think a mask would inhibit a character, the limitations in the wearing of the mask actually force the wearer to communicate using bigger gestures. Remember the pandemic and how masked neighbours communicated two metres away with deep furrowed brows to convey disagreement, or the widening of the eyes to express surprise? Well, commedia is sort of like that, but with more years of training and even more specific body language gestures. 

In this workshop, Forian will engage attendees in mask exercises on how to precisely use the body and deliver specific movement, partner listening and performance techniques that convey clarity to the audience.

^{Video via Atelierforian on YouTube}

For some, it is introductory classes such as what Forian offers that begin their lifelong journey into commedia. Rey explained that such techniques require years and years of focus and training. “It’s better to specialise in a character and make him strong and very very powerful. It’s the same in opera. If you, if you’re a tenor, you’re never a baritone… The other master I studied with – Carlo Boso – he said, ‘You have to work with one character for seven years.’” Rey is all too familiar with the training, even joyfully reminiscing on the one-month residency training programme with Boso and another master teacher Antonio Fava, where Rey and other students ate, drank and slept commedia dell’arte techniques from 9am in the morning to 9pm at night.

To the devoted disciples, once one masters the art, only then can magic happen – when carefully rehearsed scenes start to bend to elements of improvised performance. And when that magic is shared with the audience, the energy becomes a volley back and forth, creating for a unique theatrical experience that almost always can never be replicated. Like a seasoned magician, the commedia actor has a bag of tricks to pull out from and engage the audience. Here is when the actor can fearlessly go into the audience or, better yet, the actor adventurously invites an audience member onstage with the troupe. Oh lo lo lo lo lo lo ! One might suppose that the theatrical fourth wall is merely a suggestion in commedia dell’arte. 

While most of the festival performances take place in Nice City Centre, Rey continues to curate the programme to ensure that theatre remains accessible. While some of the performances take place in traditional theatres, some are performed in outdoor spaces and gardens. “And sometimes, people that are just crossing the street say, ‘Oh, what’s happening?’ And they stay… They stay,” he said with a laugh.

^{Catarina Segurana ! – photo credit V. Chochon}

In addition to Catarina Segurana ! (which is performed free of charge), three additional shows this year are also designated as free performances and will be performed in the suburbs of Nice where. Rey explained, “The people, they don’t go to the theatre because they are not in the habit of going to the theatre. And especially this part of the city : Les Moulins, La Reine – they are suburbs where there are a lot of poor people, or they can’t afford it. So we try to do theatre for them because nobody should be outside of this great heaven.

“Because we are playing in this part of the city for years and years, the people, they know that it will be accessible. Every year when I’m going to this part of the city, the people in the street, they say:

‘Oh, is it the same company as last year?’ 

I say, ‘Yes.’

‘Oh, we’ll come. We will come.’”

^{Les cent détours}

And what about Rey? Why does Rey keep coming back, year after year?

“It’s a way to re-enchant the world, you know?” he says.

“Because all these characters in commedia dell’arte, they have a lot of qualities and problems… But the end is always joyful and there’s a lot of hope. So if you go to a commedia dell’arte show, there is something that is freeing you from all your suffering, all your problems. You’re laughing at the end. And I think that’s why I love this theater. There’s no dead people; there’s no death in commedia dell’arte.”

And this is what the heart of commedia dell’arte must look like, and why the heart keeps beating to this day.

Viva la commedia dell’arte !

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Tickets for shows are 15 € for adults and 12 € for children, unless otherwise noted.

There are no reservations for free performances.

For the exhibition, visit the website for operating hours.

For all other ticketing, visit: https://www.commedia-nice.com/billetterie

For more information, visit : https://www.commedia-nice.com

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PROGRAMME DETAILS

Catarina Segurana ! où la veritable Histoire du siège de Nice​

^{Photo © RIVIERA BUZZ}

Friday, 5 June at 7:30pm | Jardin de la place Arson, Nice | Web

​Production : La Semeuse (France) | Directed by Frédéric Rey (in French)

Tickets : Free

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Solstice

Saturday, 6 June at 8:30pm | Centre Culturel la Providence, Nice | Web

Production : Cie BAL [Bal d’Arts Légers] (France) | Directed by Thierry Vincent (in French)

Tickets : 15 € Adults / 12 € Children

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Commedia dell’arte Master Class

Patrick Forian

Sunday, 7 June from 10am to 5pm | Espace de Vie Sociale La Condamine, Nice (in French)

Tickets : 45 €

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Exhibition

La commedia dell’Arte, miroir de la société​​​​

June 8 to 18, 2026 | Centre culturel La Providence​, Nice

Conceived and produced by Anne-Sophie Mathieu, Oriane Lefebvre and Abderezak Abda;, students at the University of Nice-Côte d’Azur

Tickets : Free

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Le triomphe d’Arlequin

^{Video via Amata Compagnie on YouTube}

Friday, 12 June at 8:30pm | Centre Culturel la Providence, Nice | Web

Production : Amata Compagnie (France-Italy) | Directed by Carlo Boso (in French)

Tickets : 15 € Adults / 12 € Children

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Cent détours​

^{Video via Productions Drôle de Monde / Espace La Risée on YouTube}

Saturday 13 June at 8:30pm | Centre Culturel La Providence, Nice | Web

Company : Les Productions Drôle de Monde (Canada) | Directed by Maya Gobeil, assisted by Marie-Eve Charbonneau (in French)

Tickets : 15 € Adults / 12 € Children

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Il cavaliere di pietra

d’après Carlo Gozzi

​Sunday, 14 June at 3pm | Théâtre de la Semeuse, Nice | Web

Production : Produzioni Prosperiane APS (Italia) (in Italian)

Tickets : Free

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Mistero Buffo – La fame

^{Video via Matthias Martelli on YouTube}

by Dario Fo and Franca Rame | Sunday, 14 June at 5pm | Centre Culturel de la Providence, Nice | Web

Production : Teatro Stabile di Torino (Italy) | Directed by Eugenio Allegri (in Italian)

Tickets : 15 € Adults / 12 € Children

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La princesse d’Elide

^{Video via Ville de Versailles on YouTube}

by Molière​ | Tuesday, 16 June at 5pm | Cour de l’Ecole Boris Vian, Carros | Web

​Production : Ecole Supérieure Internationale d’Art Dramatique (ESIAD) | Directed by Jean-Hervé Appéré (in French)

Tickets : Free

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Le Cyclope

​after Euripides

• Wednesday, 17 June at 5pm – Square des Jacarandas, Nice
• Thursday, 18 June at 5pm – Parc du Général Lecuyer, Nice
• Web

Production : Ecole Supérieure Internationale d’Art Dramatique (ESIAD) | Directed by Carlo Boso (in French)

Tickets : Free

VENUE DETAILS

PHOTO CREDITS

• All photos and images courtesy Festival Commedia dell’arte de Nice unless otherwise credited

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