List of figures; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Improvisation and characters; 3. Residual orality in early modern Italy and the commedia dell'arte; 4. Venetian buffoni; 5. Early male actors; 6. Early actresses; 7. Zanni texts, 1576-88; 8. Conclusions and caprices: early texts of the Dottore and Pantalone; 9. Tristano Martinelli: a company buffone; 10. Theatrical and literary 'composition' in Francesco Andreini and Flaminio Scala; 11. The generation of Cecchini: technical, moral and dramaturgical publications; Notes; Bibliography.