[From Introduction] Picture this. It’s the year 1570. You fi nd yourself in Venice for the fi rst time and you are delighted by the unique culture around you. It’s a city built on the water, streets are replaced by canals. St Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s palace, and the piazza do not disappoint. The Rialto is a hive of markets and vendors. As you wander the city you encounter something you haven’t seen before. A wooden stage erected, backed by a simple cloth. Onstage, actors in masks are leaping about and speaking to each other animatedly. Even with your limited grasp of Italian, you can identify servants, masters, and lovers. You cannot help but laugh along with the audience gathered on the street as you follow the onstage action almost intuitively. “What is this?” you ask the man next to you. He replies, “Commedia all’improvviso!”