I wish I could say that I like screwball comedies because I like commedia dell'arte, but really, I loved these plays because I like screwball comedies. Part of what made them so engrossing is that on the surface, many of these gender-bent, queer-ish characters eventually return to heteronormativity and get married. Yet, throughout the majority of the plays, they lead these subversive lives that make light of all that is upstanding and proper.