Commedia dell'arte in the mid-18th century. Curiously, "commedia dell'arte" was equally if not more popular in France, where it continued its popularity throughout the 17th century (until 1697), and it was in France that "commedia" developed its established repertoire. "Commedia" evolved into various configurations across Europe, and each country acculturated the form to its liking. For example, pantomime, which flourished in the 18th century, owes its genesis to the character types of the "commedia", particularly Harlequin. The Punch and Judy puppet shows, popular to this day in England, owe their basis to the Pulcinella mask that emerged in Neapolitan versions of the
Breaking character "faces" at the time) but then afterwards, Triple H had entered the ring and all four men then embraced in a group hug in one of the corners and then all had stood in the ring facing the crowd with raised arms. In Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci", commedia dell'arte actor Canio kills his real-life wife and her lover onstage. Breaking character In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition), breaking character occurs when an actor ceases to maintain the illusion that they are identical with the character they are portraying. This is a more acceptable occurrence while in the process