Course traces the evolution of Italian theatre from its most known production of commedia dell’arte (Goldoni’s scenarios and Gozzi’s tales in the first place), through the evolution of the acting techniques of Eleonora Duse and its international reception, a number of political and experimental forms of expression, to contemporary theatre-makers and authors. Through the reading of plays, critical essays and secondary sources, it addresses the changing aesthetics of stage-craft across mainstream theatre and experimental productions. It examines the transformation of the country’s social, political and cultural landscapes, which that same theatre analyses and helps influencing, following the professionalization of theatre-making and the creation of multiple genres: political theatre and variety, musical comedy and narration theatre, social orations and adaptations of the classics.
Engaging the students with translated plays by leading Italian playwrights, along with scholarly studies on theatre-making and its social role as critical spur of our collective consciousness, the course will teach a wide range of performance styles.
Students will apprehend a solid understanding of different artistic approaches to fundamental elements of Italian culture through the rethinking of - and the direct participation to - literary masterpieces, performance art, and the political work of living artists, in a perfect mix of theory and practice.