What is Commedia?

Commedia is a research project of the Zero-Game Studio of the Interactive Institute, an applied computer-games research studio located on the island of Gotland, in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea.

The Purgatory Series

Commedia is a tool for studying simple gestural language communication and the dynamics of on-line roleplaying. It is the first part of a series of explorations of digital dramatic interaction collectively called "The Purgatory Series".

The aim of Purgatory is to create a theoretical and software engineering framework for deep and meaningful on-line roleplaying using visual representations of the characters and their environment.

Thus Commedia is not a finished product as such, rather a tool for thinking made available online for your enjoyment.

Tradition of Commedia del Arte

The Commedia takes many liberties in it's interpretation of the Commedia del Arte tradition, most notably in the portrayal of the characters without facial masks and the inclusion of a powerful famale Mask. We have used the Commedia tradition as a rich and living source of inspiration for new modes of improvisation, not as a dead artifact to be perfectly replicated.