With the aim of providing a comprehensive history of Italian drama from its origins to the time of its publication in 2006, this book treats theatre in its widest sense, discussing the impact of all the elements and figures integral to the collaborative process of theatre-making. The impact of designers, actors, directors and impresarios as well as of playwrights is subjected to critical scrutiny, while individual chapters examine the changes in technology and shifts in the cultural climate which have influenced theatre. No other approach would be acceptable for Italian theatre, where from the days of commedia dell'arte, the central figure has often been the actor rather than the playwright. The important writers, such as Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello, receive detailed critical treatment, as do the 'great actors' of nineteenth-century theatre or the directors of our own time, but the focus is always on the bigger picture.
1. In search of Italian theatre Joseph Farrell; Part I. Middle Ages: 2. Secular and religious drama in the Middle Ages Nerida Newbigin; Part II. The Renaissance Stage: 3. The Renaissance stage Richard Andrews; 4. Comedy: erudite comedy Richard Andrews; 5. Ariosto and Ferrara Peter Brand; 6. Machiavelli and Florence Peter Brand; 7. The Intronati and Sienese comedy Richard Andrews; 8. Ruzante and the Veneto Ronnie Ferguson; 9. Aretino and later comic playwrights Peter Brand; 10. Tragedy Richard Andrews; 11. Renaissance bibliography, pastoral drama Lisa Sampson; 12. Commedia dell'arte Kenneth and Laura Richards; Part III. Seventeenth Century: 13. The seventeenth-century stage Maurice Slawinski; Part IV. Enlightenment Theatre: 14. Arrivals and departures Joseph Farrell; 15. The Venetian stage Guido Nicastro; 16. Carlo Goldoni, playwright and reformer Piermario Vescovo; 17. Carlo Gozzi Alberto Beniscelli; 18. Metastasio and melodramma Costantino Maeder; 19. Vittorio Alfieri Gilberto Pizzamiglio; Part V. Risorgimento and United Italy: 20. The Romantic theatre Ferdinando Taviani; 21. The theatre of united Italy Paolo Puppa; 22. The dialect theatres of Northern Italy Roberto Cuppone; 23. Neopolitan theatre Gaetana Marrone; 24. Sicilian dialect theatre Antonio Scuderi; Part VI. The Modern Age: 25. Actors, authors and directors Joseph Farrell; 26. Innovation and theatre of the grotesque Donatella Fischer; 27. Luigi Pirandello Paolo Puppa; 28. Italo Svevo, dramatist Paolo Puppa; 29. D'Annunzio's theatre John Woodhouse; 30. Theatre under fascism Clive Griffiths; 31. Pier Paolo Pasolini Robert S. C. Gordon; 32. Dario Fo Joseph Farrell; 33. Women in theatre Sharon Wood; 34. The contemporary scene Paolo Puppa.