Flaminio Scala

Considered one of the most important figures in Renaissance theatre, Scala is remembered today as the author of the first published collection of commedia scenarios, Il Teatro delle Favole Rappresentative,[3] short comic plays that served as inspiration to playwrights such as Lope de Vega, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Molière.

[4] [2] Scala's career as an actor began sometime prior to 1577 in Florence, where he is thought to have played the role of the innamorato in the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi (1568–1604), whose name was established after the company's creed: Virtù, fama ed honor ne fèr gelosi (lit.

[9] Records also show that Scala also invested his time into another theatre company under the name Confidenti, which also ended up being successful.

[12] This stock character made up the male half of the pair of young lovers that were central to the plots of scenarios in Italian commedia dell'arte.

Scala is credited with bringing the famous sixteenth-century actress and poet Isabella Andreini into I Gelosi to play opposite him as his inamorata, making him considered the stage's first professional producer.

[14] Following his work with I Gelosi, Scala was associated as an actor and occasionally as an agent with the i Accesi (Stimulated Ones), i Desiosi, (Desired Ones), and i Uniti (United Ones) from 1579 through 1596.

[16] Scala provided the lines and written language for the verbal aspect of the performance, but the portrayal also requires a very physicalized manner.

[28] In the Canadian premiere by the Toronto Civic-Light Opera Co., Scala was played by the company's artistic director, Joe Cascone.

At this time, audiences were seeking out ways to cope with stress and dissociate from lives in which they felt trapped by "widespread dissimulation" (Schmitt, 2015).