29019 - History of Directing (1) (2nd cycle)

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Docente: Giacomo Pedini
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-ART/05
  • Language: Italian

Learning outcomes

Considered that within the teaching of Theory of Direction the field of application of the notion of direction is open to all forms of live performance, including theatre for music, at the end of the course the student knows: - the main theoretical-methodological articulations of the thought in direction, analyzed in its relations with the artistic context of the sector and with the broader system of human sciences in general; - the main instruments to study and research in direction; - the fundamental practical junctions of the processes of creation in direction; - the structural constraints with which the direction must be in relation. The student is also able to: - handle the language of direction; - elaborate a mature and original critical reflection on the art of staging, also setting up in a correct way a research in direction that uses different sources (documentary and otherwise), aimed to be communicated in written or oral form; - address and fix the main problems given by the practical exercise of staging, in particular by developing communicative and relational skills and abilities and by refining creative attitudes; - relate critically to the structural constraints that guide direction.


Course contents

In the autumn of 1940, while the Second World War is already raging in Western Europe, Mikhail Bakhtin presents a report on the Word in the Novel. At that time he is just a secluded university professor in the province, already imprisoned in totalitarian Russia by a political condemnation, partly relieved by intervention - it seems - of the old Maxim Gor’kji. It is also in the institute dedicated to the recently deceased great playwright that Bakhtin discusses his new paper that sets up an open and punctual reflection on the different implications of the concept of dialogue and of the heteroglossia in writing, specifically of novel: more than thirty years later these two issues would have begun to have a profound effect on the front of aesthetic and semiological thoughts.
Taking inspiration from the idea that “dialogical attitude” can be placed as “a creative force of form [...] where individual divergences and contradictions are fertilized by social heteroglossia”, the teaching of Theory of Direction (LM) for academic year 2019-2020, entitled Kaleidoscopes and disharmonies: the stage directing in front of polyphony, intends to start from the open notions of heteroglossia and dialogue to reflect around their possible readings and applications in the scenic creation.
The teaching will look at some examples of historical stagings, from the dostoevskjian directings of Nemirovič-Dančenko to the work of Reinhardt on Shakespeare and also to the theoretical-practical speculations of Erwin Piscator and, above all, Bertolt Brecht, but also will look at the contemporary scene, from 100%of Rimini Protokoll to Robert Lepage's multimedia machines, without forgetting some crucial second twentieth-century passages with Ronconi (Orlando furioso at first), Thierry Salmon and Eimuntas Nekrošius. In this way, the question of the relationship between scene and polyphonic construction will be the key through which trying to know the work of stage directing and some of its features. At the bottom a recurring thought, that precisely the directing work is led by its very constitution to deal with polyphonic and polysignal horizons: in fact it is called, in its practice, to conduct a continuous dialogue with the bodies and with the different signs (verbal, visual, sound, that is cultural) that take part in the scenic creation.

Module I = first 30 hours

In the first module, after a brief introduction to the concept of stage direction, the analysis of the fundamentals of the directing language will be developed from a theoretical perspective, having particular attention to the relationship with the notion of heteroglossia, studied in some significant experiences of the past and of today, who are based on the complex relationship between a system of "many voices". This is aimed to empirically give to the participants the knowledge of the fundamentals of the directing design.

Module II = following 30 hours

In the second module of the course, attending students will be guided to develop an original directing design. Experimental field for students will be Eptalogia di Hieronymus Bosch by Rafael Spregelburd, a theatrical polyptych that, starting from the visual model of Last Judgment of Bosch, in its macro and micro structures generates a complex "grotesque body", ready to be handled , made up of numerous voices and figures that refract mobile cartography of contemporary subjects and their political and moral relations.

Module I begins =25th September 2019 (3 pm)

Module II begins =20th November 2019 (3 pm)

Lessons of module II in the days 22nd Novembre and 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th and 19th December will be held in theatre of DAMSLab in via Azzo Gardino 65/a.

 

The 6cfu course unit consists of module I, while the 12 cfu course unit consists of the two modules.

Readings/Bibliography

A) Compulsory reading list both for students who attend the lessons and for those who do not (attending the lessons means attending at least 80% of them):

6 cfu course unit (Module I)

All students (whether attending the lessons or not) are required to study:

- A. Sacchi, Il posto del re: estetiche della regia teatrale nel modernismo e nel contemporaneo, Roma, Bulzoni, 2012.

- La regia teatrale in Italia, oggi. Per Luca Ronconi, ed. by C. Longhi, «Culture Teatrali», 2016, n. 26 (monographic number), pp. 7-218.

- B. Brecht, Scritti teatrali [1962], ed. by E. Castellani, Torino, Einaudi, 2001.

- E. Fischer-Lichte, Estetica del performativo. Una teoria del teatro e dell'arte [2004], ed. by T. Gusman, Roma, Carocci, 2014, pp. 21-66.

12 cfu course unit (Module I + Module II)

All students (whether attending the lessons or not) are required to study:

- A. Sacchi, Il posto del re: estetiche della regia teatrale nel modernismo e nel contemporaneo, Roma, Bulzoni, 2012.

- La regia teatrale in Italia, oggi. Per Luca Ronconi, ed. by C. Longhi, «Culture Teatrali», 2016, n. 26 (monographic number), pp. 7-218.

- M. Bachtin, Estetica e romanzo [1979], ed. by R. Platone, Torino, Einaudi, 2001, pp. 67-230 (the chapter La parola nel romanzo).

- R. Spregelburd, Eptalogia di Hieronymus Bosch, ed. by M. Cherubini, Torino, Einaudi, 2 voll., 2015-17.

- E. Fischer-Lichte, Estetica del performativo. Una teoria del teatro e dell'arte [2004], ed. by T. Gusman, Roma, Carocci, 2014.

 

B) For both the 6 cfu course unit (Module I) and the 12 cfu one (Module I + Module II), both students who attend the lessons and students who do not are furthermore required to study a text of their choice among the following:

1) A. Antoine, I miei ricordi sul Teatro Libero, Roma-Milano, Mondadori, 1923.

2) A. Appia, Attore, musica e scena: la messa in scena del dramma wagneriano, la musica e la messa in scena, l’opera d’arte vivente, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1975.

3) A. Artaud, «Il teatro e il suo doppio» con altri scritti teatrali, Torino, Einaudi, 1968.

4) C. Bene e G. Dotto, Vita di Carmelo Bene [1998], Milano, Bompiani, 2008.

5) E. Barba, La canoa di carta. Trattato di antropologia teatrale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1993.

6) P. Brook, Lo spazio vuoto, Roma, Bulzoni, 1998.

7) R. Castellucci, C. Guidi, C. Castellucci, Epopea della polvere: il teatro della Societas Raffaello Sanzio 1992-1999: Amleto, Masoch, Orestea, Giulio Cesare, Genesi, Milano, Ubulibri, 2001.

8) J. Copeau, Artigiani di una tradizione vivente: l'attore e la pedagogia teatrale, Firenze, La casa Usher, 2009.

9) G. Craig, Il mio teatro, ed. by F. Marotti, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1971.

10) S. M. Ejzenstejn, Il movimento espressivo. Scritti sul teatro, Venezia, Marsilio, 1998.

11) J. Grotowski, Per un teatro povero, Roma, Bulzoni, 1970.

12) T. Kantor, Il teatro della morte, Milano, Ubulibri, 2000.

13) L. Jouvet, Ascolta, amico mio, Roma, Bulzoni, 2007.

14) H.-T. Lehmann, Il teatro postdrammatico, Imola, CuePress, 2017.

15) V. E. Mejerchol´d, L'attore biomeccanico, Milano, Ubulibri, 1993.

16) V. Pandolfi, Spettacolo del secolo. Il teatro drammatico, Pisa, Nistri-Lischi, 1953.

17) E. Piscator, Il teatro politico, Torino, Einaudi, 1960.

18) G. Pitoëff, Il nostro teatro, Roma, Bulzoni, 2009.

19) Il teatro di Trionfo, ed. by F. Quadri, Milano, Ubulibri, 2002.

20) L. Ronconi e G. Capitta, Teatro della conoscenza, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2012.

21) L. Squarzina, Il romanzo della regia: duecento anni di trionfi e sconfitte, Ospedaletto (Pisa), Pacini, 2005.

22) K. Stanislavskij, Il lavoro dell'attore su se stesso, ed. by G. Guerrieri, prefazione di F. Malcovati, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2003.

23) K. Stanislavsikij, Il lavoro dell'attore sul personaggio, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1988.

24) G. Strehler, Per un teatro umano: pensieri scritti, parlati e attuati, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1974.

25) E. B. Vachtangov, Il sistema e l’eccezione: taccuini, lettere, diari, Pisa, ETS, 2004.

 

For both the 6 cfu course unit (Module I) and the 12 cfu one (Module I + Module II), only students who attend less than 80% of the lessons are furthermore required to study a second text of their choice among the list above.

N.B.: any change of this programme must be discussed with the teacher.

 

Other materials can be put on-line after the beginning of lessons.

 

Who needs some knowledge about history of direction can read also:

- R. Alonge, Il teatro dei registi. Scopritori di enigmi e poeti della scena, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006.

- Il teatro di regia: genesi ed evoluzione (1870-1950) [2004], ed. by U. Artioli, Roma, Carocci, 2018.

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

- M. Schino, La nascita della regia teatrale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2003.

Teaching methods

The class will be structured as a seminar, with hours of lectures, followed by discussions with students, practical excercises, as well as presentations submitted by students on agreed themes. The presentations will serve as a starting point for the final verification. During the class, video projections from shows object of analysis will also be used. When they are possible, meetings with artists in Bologna during the period of lesson will be scheduled.


Assessment methods

I module 6 cfu:

The final examination consists of:

1) an oral examination on the topics covered during the class and on the books read by the students among those quoted in bibliography;

2) the presentation of a written essay on a director as case of study, starting from one of the reading choices of the students, among those volumes quoted in bibliography. The essay should not exceed 20,000 characters (including spaces) and it should be delivered to the teacher, preferably by e-mail, at least two days before the date on which the student intends to take the final assessment.

The oral examination serves to evaluate the complex of knowledge and critical skills gained by the student, through attendance of the class and (/ or in the case of non-attending students) through reading the materials listed in the bibliography. At the same time the oral examination will serve as well to evaluate the grasp by the student of the main study tools useful to make a reflection on the issues regarding direction, as well as student's ability to place these issues within a broader theatrical horizon as well as within the general system of the humanities.

The written essay is aimed to assess the student's ability to grasp the crucial aspects of a director's work, knowing how to make critical and interpretive choices also in light of a wider historic-theatrical horizon and above all in relation to the state of direction in today's context.

The oral examination and written essay will be evaluated jointly and in a unified manner, as they are two modes to highlight, from the student, the knowledge accrued during the class and the ability to use them in an original way.

Note: if any of the contributions included in the bibliography have not been studied by the candidate (without a prior agreement with the professor) the test will be immediately interrupted and cancelled.

 

I+II modules 12 cfu:

The final examination consists of:

1) an oral examination on the topics covered during the class and on the books read by the students among those quoted in bibliography;

2) the presentation of a written essay on a director as case of study, starting from one of the reading choices of the students, among those volumes quoted in bibliography. The essay should not exceed 20,000 characters (including spaces) and it should be delivered to the teacher, preferably by e-mail, at least two days before the date on which the student intends to take the final assessment;

3) in the presentation of a project of direction developed during the course for students who attend or elaborated on a dramaturgical score to be agreed with the teacher for non-attending students, to be delivered to the teacher, preferably by e-mail, at least two days before the date on which the student intends to take the final assessment.

The oral examination serves to evaluate the complex of knowledge and critical skills gained by the student, through attendance of the class and (/ or in the case of non-attending students) through reading the materials listed in the bibliography. At the same time the oral examination will serve as well to evaluate the grasp by the student of the main study tools useful to make a reflection on the issues regarding direction, as well as student's ability to place these issues within a broader theatrical horizon as well as within the general system of the humanities.

The written essay is aimed to assess the student's ability to grasp the crucial aspects of a director's work, knowing how to make critical and interpretive choices also in light of a wider historic-theatrical horizon and above all in relation to the state of direction in today's context.

The project of direction is aimed to assess the acquisition and the ability to re-elaborate, by the student, the main knowledge of the language of direction, as well as the ability to develop an organic and complex thought with the language of directing. It is also aimed to assess the ability of the student to know how to compare with the material conditioning given to the director.

The oral examinationwritten essay and project of direction will be evaluated jointly and in a unified manner, as they are three modes to highlight, from the student, the knowledge accrued during the class and the ability to use them in an original way.

Note: if any of the contributions included in the bibliography have not been studied by the candidate (without a prior agreement with the professor) the test will be immediately interrupted and cancelled.

 

 

Teaching tools

Other teaching tools will be: proposals of vision of certain shows now in theatres of Bologna and of Italy (some prompts will be given during the class); the projection of video from important past stagings; the quote and/or making available to students of textual and/or iconographic materials in depth (in this case some indications will be given during the class).


Office hours

See the website of Giacomo Pedini

SDGs

Quality education Gender equality

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.