b'Pierrotesque: An exploration of Pierrots evolutionunderneath other forms, as we see in the naturalistic drama, Present Laughter across theatre history, through the case study of Nol(Green and Swan 1993: xiv).Cowards Present Laughter. A quality of Greens subterranean influence is that, even within an age that does not name or perform its identity as commedic, it is still possible for theEliza Clark conditions under which we live [to] make us see ourselves commedically (p.xv). The 1920s, during which Cowards career accelerated, offered infantile newadventure amongst the youthful and artistic circles of Western Europe, as if a The following excerpts are from Eliza Clarks undergraduate dissertation. Shepost-war summoning of commedic entertainment could restore their innocent discusses how elements of Pierrots identity can exist within a non-Pierrot spirit (Soden 2023:84).Inevitably, however, Western-European work from this performance context, due to the nature of subterranean forms of influence decade, from Chaplin to cabaret, would be irrevocably sorrowful underneath this (Green and Swan 1993: xv).sweet, stylised mask. Masked figures, such as those from Commedia, lendthemselves to a postlapsarian cultural psyche, due to providing deep-rooted,After offering a potted history of Pierrots evolution and analysing the recognisable, and entertaining imagery. It may have been an age of triumph, in pierrotesque within Present Laughter, Chapter 3 delves into how Presentterms of Commedias - and thus Pierrots - resurrection, however this movement Laughter fits into Cowards context, a carnivalesque age that Green and Swaninto aestheticising low spirits resonates more with the Romantic Age Pierrot of title as a triumph for Commedia 1 (Green & Swan 1993). Eliza explores the mooning malaise (Soden 2023:84).nature of influence and how Cowards work exists liminally between forms,offering the commedic as a reason for Present Laughters commercial Indeed, Soden describes Cowards Parisian Pierrot lyric as divinely forlornsuccess. (Coward 1923), and as a haunting and paradoxical phrase (that) encapsulated the topsy-turvy atmosphere of the 1920s, in which low spirits were chic (Soden 2023: Whilst Coward wrote Present Laughter in 1939, a decade after Green and Swans128). Literary critic Bakhtins canonical theories of the topsy-turvy nature of the focus of study (1890-1930), context provided at the beginning of Chapter Two carnivalesque illuminate this described atmosphere and therefore justify the illuminates how Pierrot and the pierrotesque may have informed Cowards earliergravitational appeal of the carnivalesque during this time (Bakhtin 1984: 411). To works. Images from Parisian Pierrot, for example, would later be cut up and return to Present Laughter, carnivalesque chaos sometimes draws explicitreassembled, however unconsciously, in Cowards imagination (Storey 1985:313).attention to itself, for example when Joanna likens Garry to a circus horseGreen and Swans framework is thus still valuable in understanding subterranean(Coward 1949: 68), telling him to ring down the curtain, take off your make-up influence, during the age in which Commedia burst out of its ghetto and invaded(p68). In her final exit of the play, during a heightened moment of chaos, Joanna that other world (Green and Swan 1993: xiv). Their language choices imply a draws attention to what Welsford may interpret as commedic in this idioticsudden explosive entrance into mainstream, legitimate theatre by a marginalisedperformance (p.133). Combined with the connections of familial webs and el-minority (Hartnoll and Found 1996); whilst seemingly derogatory, this statementements of slapstick in performance, as drawn in Chapter Two, the commedic is incorporates the idea that Commedia had been a redundant form, existent in theembedded into the play, despite presenting without the aesthetic trappings of cultural memory expressed in artistic depictions, but generally away from costume and makeup that would give commedic visual signification.Amongst legitimate theatre. The word burst implies that the forms made themselves the pierrotesque, these are examples of where, one could analogise, the mask of apparent within the other world; this is the case in Cowards overt mention of1930s naturalism slips to reveal the subterranean influence of the marginalised Pierrot and references to Pierrots Romantic evolution in the song, Parisian Pierrot,commedic form. Meeting horizons of expectations (and by extension, receptibil-for example. However, not all references in works of this time existed with suchity) within the legitimate theatrical environment (Jauss cited in Leach 2008:168), conspicuous gusto. Green then offers the nuance that an age will not respond toallowed Coward to be accepted by the society and industry he hoped to impress, the imagery of an age gone by, meaning here that the commedic legacies may notby camouflaging his work into the main stages of the West End (Swan 1993: 271).always directly draw attention to themselves in works, but bubble palimpsesticallyReturning to the pierrotesque trait of liminality, Present Laughter can be seen to1Commedia dellArte, an Italian form of popular theatre, originated in the 16th century and involved stockoccupy both popular entertainment and legitimate drama. It is worthcharacters and improvised narrative sequences. The character of Pierrot originated in late 17th centurystipulating - on the subject of Intellectual Snobbery (Coward, date unknown) - that Commedia performances in Paris and became ubiquitous in popular pantomimes and other art forms inuse of Blakes lapsarian term in this context is not intended to incite negativethe late 19th century, into the early years of the 20th century (the period of Green and Swans study). Eds.32 33'