95883 - Theories of Drama Composition (1) (Lm)

Academic Year 2025/2026

Course contents

Balancing Between Form and Deformation: The Dramatic Text at the Threshold of the Twentieth Century

The course will begin with a historical overview of the development of theatrical writing: from Greek and Latin dramaturgy, through medieval theatre, the Renaissance, and the modern era, up to bourgeois and romantic drama.

In the second part of the course, attention will be focused on the European theatrical culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period in which the dramatic form stands at the brink of its dissolution. In particular, pages from Ubu Roi will be read and analyzed, where Alfred Jarry’s paradoxical and imaginative writing combines the freedom of abstraction with the most base and pulsating corporeality.

The final lessons will be dedicated to experimenting with individual and collective dramaturgical writing exercises, based on the compositional techniques studied during the course and the students’ creative needs.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography for Attending Students

- L. Allegri, La drammaturgia occidentale, Carocci, Roma 2024 (Italian edition, selected chapters as indicated in class);

- F. Perrelli, Le origini del teatro moderno. Da Jarry a Brecht, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2016 (Italian edition, selected chapters as indicated in class);

- A. Jarry, Ubu re, in A. Jarry, Ubu, Adelphi, Milano 1977;

- Handout consisting of extracts from plays analysed during lectures;

- Writing exercises carried out in class;

- Lecture notes.

 

Bibliography for Non-Attending Students

- L. Allegri, La drammaturgia occidentale, Carocci, Roma 2024;

- F. Perrelli, Le origini del teatro moderno. Da Jarry a Brecht, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2016;

- L. Mango, Il Novecento del teatro. Una storia, Carocci, Roma 2019;

In addition, students must choose two texts from the following list :

- A. Jarry, Ubu, Adelphi, Milano 1977;

- A. Cechov, Tre sorelle, in Teatro, Garzanti, Milano 2014.

- B. Brecht, Madre Courage e I suoi figli, Einaudi, Torino 2015;

- L. Pirandello, Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore, qualsiasi edizione;

- C. Bene, G. Deleuze, Sovrapposizioni, Quodlibet, Macerata 2012;

- J.-P. Sartre, Le mosche - Porta chiusa, Bompiani, Milano 2013.

Teaching methods

Teaching methods

The course consists of lectures. Selected excerpts from dramatic texts will be analyzed together. The active participation of the attending students will be solicited through classroom discussions. The lectures will occasionally include meetings with artists and scholars on topics close to those dealt with in the course.

Assessment methods

The final examination will consist of an oral interview that will focus on the topics covered in the lectures and on the texts in the bibliography in the case of those who attend; those who do not attend, on the other hand, will refer to the volumes indicated in the bibliography. The interview results in a grade in 30/30. No further papers are due before the oral examination interview. Active attendance of lectures is a relevant factor in the learning process and will therefore also influence the final assessment.

The learning of knowledge, the ability to analyse and synthesise, the organic view (and not the mechanical repetition) of the topics, lexical and expressive mastery, originality in the critical reworking of content will be taken into consideration for the assessment.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Lectures accompanied by videos, iconographic material, textual sources.

Office hours

See the website of Caterina Piccione