"Harlequin Valentine" is a bloody and romantic short story (1999) and graphic novel (2001) based on the old Commedia dell'arte and Harlequinade pantomime.
Both the short story and the graphic novel were written by Neil Gaiman. The latter was drawn by John Bolton, and published by Dark Horse Books. The short story has been republished in Fragile Things.
Commedia dell'Arte 意大利文的意思是 "the comedy of artists"是一种于16世纪至18世纪盛行于意大利的即兴戏剧。表演没有剧本,通常在室外演出。表演是免费的,经费来源是人们的捐助。一个队伍中通常由10个人组成,8个男人,2个女人。在意大利之外的很多地方,这中表演形式被称为“意大利喜剧”。
Karel Dujardins set his closely-observed scene of a traveling troupe's makeshift stage against idealized ruins in the Roman