Flaminio Scala

Flaminio Scala , commonly known by his stage name, Flavio, was a sixteenthcentury Italian stage actor of Commedia dellArte, scenario writer, playwright, director, producer, manager, agent, and editor. 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, short comic plays that served as inspiration to playwrights such as Lope de Vega, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Molire.

Scala was born in Rome onSeptember 1552. Little is known about his early life and his aristocratic family, except that his fathers name was Giacomo. Scalas 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 . 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 dellarte. Typically, the innamorati were as much in love with one another as they were with themselves and frequently kept apart by circumstances outside their control. Scala is credited with bringing the famous sixteenthcentury actress and poet Isabella Andreini into I Gelosi to play opposite him as his innamorata. The sixteenyearold wife of the actor Francesco Andreini went on to become such a celebrated actress in her own right that a new role known as the Isabella was created in her honor. Following his work with I Gelosi, Scala was a

Source: Wikipedia