The Department of Fools uses masks, improv and plenty of satire to revive a form of street theatre called commedia dell’Arte.

“We are a bunch of crazy actors doing physical comedy,” said actor Brandon Salerno. “We’re also very zany and out of the box. So the department felt official and fools feels crazy,” Salerno said.

The self-proclaimed fools will sometimes busk in Washington Square Park.

“Performers would go out and put on short performances for mostly working class people,” said Matthew A.J. Gregory, capaocomico or captain of the troupe. 

“They were the ones who were out in the street of the cities of the Italian Renaissance. That kind of masked performance and clowning and comedy, which is very broad and fun, filled with this kind of silliness, became very popular.”

Gregory has been teaching and performing comedia on and off for the last two decades.

Distinct masks are an integral part of commedia dell’Arte. During the renaissance, they were made from leather, with distinct features disguising the actors.

“For the vast majority of people who are walking around the street today, they wouldn’t necessarily instantly recognize [the masks]. But with these kinds of types, if you were walking around in the streets of Venice during the Renaissance, you might instantly know that person. So in some ways, part of what we try to do is to honor the traditions, but animate them in ways that a modern audience is going to appreciate,” Gregory said.

Sometimes, that audience is in a venue and sometimes the Department of Fools performs on a smaller scale, like a night in Washington Square Park. 

In one exercise, the actors revolved around a chalk drawn circle on the ground with the word “silly” inside as they interacted with strangers in the park.

“Within a few minutes, people are having a lot of fun and it’s the kind of thing that will liberate the actor and get them out of their head so quickly, often actors struggle with that,” said Gregory.

Actors in the troupe say the craft is freeing and forces them out of their comfort zone.

“Sometimes I find myself getting stuck behind the mask of me. And yeah, there’s just something about this that lets me explore different characters outside of myself. It lets me just get into a place of body and play,” explained actress Kristen Hoffman.

“Allowing yourself to follow the fun, you can explore new sides of yourself,” said Sarah Evans, a troupe member.

It’s their own unique, zany, New York twist on the historic commedia dell’Arte.