#farce

• Harlequinade — A short play, pantomime, or farce specific to the old Italian popular theater (Commedia dell'arte), featuring Harlequin as the main character; (figuratively) an unserious action, farce, buffoonery, or ridiculous and insincere behavior characterized by sudden changes in attitude or hypocrisy aimed at deceiving or superficially amusing.
• Atellan farce — A form of popular, satirical, and licentious comedy from ancient Italy (originating in the Oscan town of Atella), characterized by the use of fixed masks, stereotyped stock characters (Maccus, Bucco, Pappus, Dossenus), and short texts based on coarse improvisation. Considered a direct ancestor of the Commedia dell'arte, the Atellan farce was assimilated by Roman culture as an afterpiece (exodium) performed at the end of tragedies to lighten the mood.
• Atellan farces — The plural form of the noun 'atelană', denoting multiple performances, plays, or dramatic farces from the ancient Oscan comic genre. As a feminine plural adjective (agreeing with nouns like 'farse', 'comedii'), it describes theatrical works, masks, plots, or literary manifestations specific to the dramatic tradition of the ancient town of Atella.