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J2BR "BRIGHELLA"
The name Brighella comes from the Italian “briga” and “brigare”, that is... to cheat. He comes from Bergamo and, in his typical roles in the Commedia dell’Arte, he plays the shrewd servant, called “primo zani”, always in the red, hungry and the author of slightly malicious manoeuvres that he plots to make a fool of Pantalone or to favour couples whose love is opposed by somebody. Brighella is greedy and cunning, he lives by his own wits and submits to doing all sorts of jobs: he is an innkeeper, a sergeant, a servant or even a thief. Brighella is also a good musician and therefore he is often represented with different instruments in the drawings of the time. In France, in particular, Brighella became extremely popular starting from the second half of the XVII century until he became the most important character to play the role of the servant. His most usual costume is a large white coat with green edges and frog braiding, similar to a livery, with large trousers. About his costume, Brighella says: “It is white because my lies and tricks are not intended to harm, green because I am envious of other people’s money and I never pay my debts back to them”. Sometimes he argues with Arlecchino, who in other cases is his accomplice in various tricks. But unlike the poor Arlecchino, Brighella always manages to get away with whatever he does, because, as he explains: “Slyness is my sister, I haven’t spoken to Honesty for quite a while, and lies are like pancakes and meatballs: if they’re not big, it’s not worth the trouble!”
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