By DOUG GILLETT
Staff Writer

What may be the only commedia dell’arte troupe in North America exists on the University campus. And starting today, students can audition to be a part of it.

"I Commedianti Georgiani," Italian for "The Georgian Plays," is an 11-member group of students who play the same parts in every show.

Troupe Director John Brandt likened commedia dell’arte to TV shows like "Cheers": "It’s the precursor for sitcoms on TV," he said. "The characters are always the same, but they’re in different situations. … (Commedia) is that on stage with some acrobatics and improvisations thrown in."

Auditions begin today and will run through Friday, and people who want to try out can sign up on the call board in the basement of the Fine Arts Building.

The troupe was started in 1991 after drama professor Stanley Longman assembled a group to perform Carlo Goldoni’s "The Servant of Two Masters" at Festa Italia in Atlanta. "From there it’s just grown as a group," Longman said.

Longman directed for five years before handing over his duties to graduate student Jeff Haffner. "(Haffner) was so enthusiastic, it became a sort of student-driven enterprise," Longman said. "Once (students) have the enthusiasm and a good sense of how it works, they can really take off. And they have both."

Longman still serves as the troupe’s faculty adviser, helping the troupe with its scripts and offering suggestions. The troupe’s next performance is Carlo Gozzi’s "King Stag," beginning April 28.

Though most of the troupe’s members are drama students, Brandt encourages all types of students to audition. "Right now we’ve got people with a wide variety of backgrounds – tumbling, music, stage actors," he said. He added that there are "one or two people who’ve spent very little time on stage."

"The main thing is, we’re the only troupe of this kind in North America," Brandt said. "The drama majors really don’t have much of an edge over everyone else, unless they’ve seen us a couple of times."

The troupe has performed at venues from the free speech platform on the Tate Student Center Plaza to Emory University. Brandt said it may perform at Auburn University soon as well. The troupe also taught a commedia workshop last month at Georgia College.

Brandt said past audiences have "laughed themselves silly. … We’ve had tremendous response. We’re slowly developing a stable audience group."

Brandt said prospective auditioners can log on to the troupe’s Web site (www.arches. uga.edu/~jbrandt) for tips on what to expect when auditioning. "We use a variety of skills and talents, and make the most of whoever shows up," he said.