75799 - Dramaturgy of the Theatre Space (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing this course students: - will be able to recognize scenic settings from the past and contextualize them in relation to various historical and cultural circumstances; - will be able to assess and discuss critically the relationship between stagings and dramaturgies; - will possess a system of knowledge that allow them to analyze and deal with different issues of theatrical organization of spaces.

Course contents

As inseparable half of an original androgynous, space and drama have lived in mutual dialectic in the history of Western theatre, especially if they are intended in a broad sense (ie that of the place of theatrical act, for the first, and that of spectacular text, for the second). From the first and provisional boards erected on the slope of the Acropolis, which later became (significantly) solid stone blocks, until the dense row of theatre boxes of so called "Italian theatre", through the Renaissance perspective invention, without forgetting the wide proscenium and the balconies of the Elizabethan theatre, until the explosion of possibilities that occurred during the twentieth century, the vicissitudes of drama are constantly intertwined to those of space: for each different moment in the history of our scenes it has been a "dramaturgy of space", as a regulatory element of the theatrical fact or as an objective correlative of the performance text. However - as it became clear in the past century - it is true "the opposite" also: it has been a "dramaturgy of space", to be understood both as a scenic creation that begins from the identification and construction of the theatrical place, both as a spatial realization in which a dramaturgical construction can be developed.

The teaching Dramaturgy of the Theatre Space (1) LM intends to start from the problems mentioned above to offer students a theoretical and practical passage on the main issues related to "spatialization of drama ", on the one hand, as well as to the "dramatization of the spaces", for the other. With the help of dramaturgical materials, after a quick crossing of some exemplary cases in the Western history of theatre, the teaching, entitled Theatrum sive spectaculum?, will be focused on the borders between the concept of theatre and of show, ever more labile since the beginning of the twentieth century. These two categories, often overlying during the Modern Era, have gradually distinguished each other in the past century, further problematized and then redefined by the emergence of the concept of performance. From the futurist proclamations to the first shows in open spaces, up to the monumental constructions of totalitarian regimes, often coinciding with the emergence of world sports events (Olympics in the first place), in contrast to the crisis of modern drama and its refined “solution attempts”, as Szondi says, strenuously devoted to preserving those elements of specific theatrical complexity, students will have an overview of the main questions of the subject both on the level of aesthetic reflection both through some cases of analysis. Finally, as a form of practical training, students will be asked to independently develop an independent research: they will propose to the class or an idea of an alternative staging of Pirandello's drama Questa sera si recita a soggetto (Tonight We Improvise), or they will grapple with another staging of a dramaturgy of scenic space (leaning to the texts listed in the bibliography), or, ultimately, they will present two cases of spatial stagings related to what is discussed during the lessons.

Lessons start on Wednesday 14th November in Aula Ferrero.

Lessons will held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 9-11am. On Monday and Tuesday lessons will be held in Aula Picchi. On Wednesday will be held in Aula Ferrero.

 

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):

• M. De Marinis, La drammaturgia dello spazio, in Id., In cerca dell'attore. Un bilancio del Novecento teatrale, Roma, Bulzoni, 2000, pp. 29-51.

• Erika Fischer-Lichte, Estetica del performativo [2004], trad. di T. Gusman, Roma, Carocci, 2014, pp. 41-66.

• L. Ronconi-G. Capitta, Lo spazio e altre dimensioni, in Id.,Teatro della conoscenza, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2012, pp. 47-64.

• J. T. Schnapp, 18BL: Mussolini e l'opera d'arte di massa, Milano, Garzanti, 1996, pp. 26-102 pp. 198-199, 213-237.

• Luigi Pirandello, Questa sera si recita a soggetto [1930], in Id., Maschere nude, a cura di Alberto Varvaro, vol IV, Milano, Mondadori (I Meridiani), 2007, pp. 247-396.

a text of their choice among the following:

• 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.

• S. Bajma Griga, La tempesta di Shakespeare per Giorgio Strehler, Pisa, ETS, 2003.

• J. Beck e J. Malina, Il lavoro del Living Theatre (materiali, 1952-1962), Milano, Ubulibri, 1982.

• B. Brecht, Scritti teatrali [1962], Torino, Einaudi, 2001.

• P. Brook, Lo spazio vuoto, Roma, Bulzoni, 1998.

• M. Castri, Pirandello ottanta, a cura di E. Capriolo, Milano, Ubulibri, 1981.

• J. Copeau, Il luogo del teatro, a cura di M.I. Aliverti, Firenze, La casa Usher, 1988.

• E. G. Craig, Il mio teatro. L'arte del teatro. Per un nuovo teatro. Scena, a cura di F. Marotti [1971], Milano, Feltrinelli, 1980.

• J. Grotowski, Testi, 1954-1988. I. La possibilità del teatro (1954-1964), Lucca, La Casa Usher, 2014.

• J. Grotowski, Testi, 1954-1998. II. Il teatro povero (1965-1969), Lucca, La Casa Usher, 2015.

• Arthur Holmberg, The theatre of Robert Wilson, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

• C. Longhi, Orlando furioso di Ariosto-Sanguineti per Luca Ronconi, Pisa, ETS, 2006.

• L. Mango, Il Principe costante di Calderón de la Barca-Slowacki per Jerzy Grotoswki, Pisa, ETS, 2008.

• E. Marinai, Antigone di Sofocle-Brecht per il Living Theatre, Pisa, ETS, 2014.

• F. Mazzocchi, La locandiera di Goldoni per Luchino Visconti, ETS, Pisa, 2003.

• V.V. Nabokov, Lolita: sceneggiatura, Milano, Bompiani, 2001.

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

• M. Pellanda, Cinema e teatro. Influssi e contaminazioni tra ribalta e pellicola, Roma, Carocci, 2012.

• A. Sacchi, Shakespeare per la Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Pisa, ETS, 2014.

• F. Simoncini, Rosmersholm per Eleonora Duse, Pisa, ETS, 2005.

B) Only students who attend less than 80% of the lessons are furthermore required to study a text of their choice among the following

• U. Artioli (a cura di), Il teatro di regia: genesi ed evoluzione, 1870-1950, Roma, Carocci, 2004.

• M. Fazio, Regie teatrali: dalle origini a Brecht, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011.

• S. Mazzoni (a cura di), Drammaturgie dello spazio dal teatro greco ai multimedia, n. monografico di «Drammaturgia», Prima serie, X, 2003.

Any changing to this programe must be defined with the teacher.

Some deepening materials could be at disposal from December 2018.

For those who lack a knowledge of some of the key issues in the history of drama and of theatrical spaces, it would be useful to read also:

• F. Cruciani, Lo spazio del teatro, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1992.

• P. Szondi, Teoria del dramma moderno: 1880-1950 [1962], Torino, Einaudi, 2000.

N.B. students who attend less than 80% of lessons are invited to talk to the teacher before their final examination

Teaching methods

The class will be structured as a seminar, opened by some hours of lectures, followed by discussions with students, as well as essays submitted by them on agreed themes. The essays will serve as a starting point for the final verification. During the class, video projections from shows object of analysis will also be used.

Assessment methods

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 topic agreed with the teacher; this essay could also be related to one of the reading choices of the students, among those volumes quoted in bibliography, whether attending students or not attending. 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 interposed between dramaturgy and theatrical space, as well as student's ability to place these issues within a broader historical-theatrical horizon as well as within the general system of the humanities.

The written essay is aimed to assess the student's ability to process and fix in writing an original thought/idea, in dialogue with a complex of more general knowledge already possessed and more specific knowledge acquired during the class.

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.

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).

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/giacomo.pedini2/avvisi/c7f7468f

Office hours

See the website of Giacomo Pedini