Scaramouche or Scaramouch is a stockclown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte. The role combined characteristics of the Zanni and the Capitano, with some assortment of villainous traits. Usually attired in black Spanish dress and burlesquing a Don, he was often beaten by Harlequin for his boasting and cowardice.
History
Although Tiberio Fiorillo was not the first to play the role, he greatly developed and popularized it. He removed the mask, used white powder on his face, and employed grimaces. He had a small beard, long mustache, and wore a predominantly black costume with a white ruff. In France he became known as scaramouche. In the 19th century the English actorJoseph Grimaldi and his son J. S. Grimaldi made numerous appearances as Scaramouche.
Character
Scaramouche entertains the audience by his "grimaces and affected language". Salvator Rosa says that Coviello is "sly, adroit, supple, and conceited". In Molière's The Bourgeois Gentleman, Coviello disguises his master as a Turk and pretends to speak Turkish. Both Scaramouche and Coviello can be clever or stupid—as the actor sees fit to portray him. In Blaise Pascal's Pensèes Section 1 Article 12, Scaramouche is described as a person "who only thinks of one thing. The doctor, who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said everything, so full is he of the desire of talking."
In puppetry
Scaramouche is one of the great characters in the Punch and Judypuppet shows. In some scenarios, he is the owner of The Dog, another stock character. During performances, Punch frequently strikes Scaramouche, causing his head to come off his shoulders. Because of this, the term scaramouche has become associated with a class of puppets with extendable necks.
The hero of Rafael Sabatini's historical novelScaramouche, and its film adaptations, is a similar swashbuckling character who goes incognito in the theatrical role of Scaramouche.
Several films were named Scaramouche, among other past films and TV series, include:
Scaramouche is the name of a suite' by the French composer Darius Milhaud for saxophone and cabaret orchestra. Milhaud first composed the piece for theatre.
In the 1975 song "Bohemian Rhapsody", by the popular British rock band Queen, Scaramouche is asked if he would like to perform the dance known as a fandango.
Inspired by "Bohemian Rhapsody", Scaramouche is the name of the lead female role in the jukebox musical play We Will Rock You.
Scaramouche Jones is a solo play by Justin Butcher, which was premiered in its full form by Pete Postlethwaite. In this 100-minute monologue, an aging clown recounts, at the turn of the millennium, the picaresque story of his life, from his early childhood in Trinidad at the start of the 20th century, the son of a gypsy prostitute and an Englishman, through his harsh misadventures in the slave trade and in wartime Poland, where as a gravedigger he found his vocation as a clown while striving to keep children amused by parodying their imminent slaughter.
In the opening chapter of the book Phule's Company by Robert Asprin, the main character Willard Phule uses Scaramouche as his alias.
In Tom Stoppard's On the Razzle, Scaramouche is the nom de plume used by sales clerk Weinberl in his letters while answering "lonely hearts advertisements".
Investor Anthony Scaramucci was named the White Housecommunications director in July 2017 and removed later that same month. His very public presence in news media prompted an 8,185% increase in searches for Scaramouche'', according to Merriam-Webster. Cartoonist Ruben Bolling hinted at some striking congruities between Anthony Scaramucci's conduct in office and the defining traits of the theatrical figure.
