i find it interesting how various theatrical traditions feature the archetype of the divine clown. comedic figures who may not be divine in the sense that they are venerated but in the sense that they're omnipresent, omniscient, transcend the boundaries of the stage. practically divine in the world they inhabit. and on paper, their status as servants, labourers, etc. seems at odds with this divine element, but it really contributes to it- they have to be everywhere whether they're needed or not, and are often a conduit to the audience due to their status and assigned position in the on-stage world.
recently i've been watching javan wayang kulit and paying special attention to the punakawan, though i may not understand their dialogue beyond the few cognates with words used in thai ( i really need to learn basa jawa, though ). i've also been looking at early operas that feature commedia characters- whose dialogue i don't entirely understand either, on account of how some use the dialect of whichever region they've been drawn from. but i have enough contextual knowledge, i think, to see these characters in each other. and i just think that's really cool.
i've also been thinking of how this blog's namesake character has been portrayed as such a figure ( the main example that comes to mind at the moment is literal angel unulfo at garsington- more divine than clown, but still ) and so... y'know.
