27110 - History of Directing

Course contents

From a careful analysis of the crisis of the "classical" drama happened in the second half of the XIX century, the History of direction class for the academic year 2012-2013 (title: Direction versus drama) is to provide students with a recognition of the main developmental stages of language of direction from a reflection on the relations between the practice of direction and the experience of drama during the time. Starting from the analysis of the initial subordination of the director to the verb of the author to come to the reflection on the model of the dramatic writing typical of the protagonists of the New Theatre, the class aims to trace the history of the practice of direction from the Nineteenth century to the present day – together with a catalogue of operative strategies of direction – considering the relations that the different directors have gradually established with the drama. This course will be made up of:

I module = first 30 hours

II module = other 30 hours

During this course it will be possible to attend some external shows and performances. Students who will not attend the course are asked to arrange a program with the professor.

Readings/Bibliography

A) Testi obbligatori per frequentani e non frequentanti:

A tutti gli studenti (frequentanti e non frequentanti) si richiede la conoscenza di:

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

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

- P. Szondi, Teoria del dramma moderno 1880-1950, Torino, Einaudi, 2000;

- A. Artaud, «Il teatro e il suo doppio» con altri scritti teatrali, Torino, Einaudi, 2000;

- B. Brecht, Scritti teatrali, Torino, Einaudi, 2001 (ed. in un solo volume).

For the books of Szondi, Artaud and Brecht it is possible to use any Italian edition available.

B) Compulsory Books for students who will not attend the course:

Only students who will not attend the course are asked to study one more book chosen among the following:

1) U. Artioli (a cura di), Il teatro di regia. Genesi ed evoluzione 1870-1950, Roma, Carocci, 2004;

2) G. Zanlonghi, La regia teatrale del secondo Novecento. Utopie, forme e pratiche, Roma, Carocci, 2009;

3) L. Squarzina, Il romanzo della regia. Duecento anni di trionfi e sconfitte, Ospedaletto di Pisa (PI), Pacini, 2005;

4) F. Perrelli, La seconda creazione. Fondamenti della regia teatrale, Torino, Utet, 2005.

5) F. Perrelli, I maestri della ricerca teatrale: il Living, Grotovski, Barba e Brook, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007.

N.B.: Any potential modification of this program must be arranged with the professor.

Some possible deepening papers will be available on these pages as attachments starting from October 2012.

Teaching methods

The course will consist essentially in a series of lectures. These lectures will be held together with discussions with the students and papers written by the students about the topics arranged. The students are also expected to attend to performances in programming during the period of the lessons.

Assessment methods

The Final Exam will consist of: 1) a written review of the book chosen by the student among those in the bibliography which are compulsory both for students who will attend the course and for those who will not. This written review must not be more than 10 pages (2000 letters each one) and it must be consigned at least two days before the day of the exam. 2) an oral exam which will be focused on the topics of the class and on the books read by the student.

To get the pass-mark students must have a theoretical and methodological knowledge in the field of theatre directing which allows them to understand with pertinence every phase of the development of the directing language and to analyse consistently a performance.

Teaching tools

External shows and performances: the timing and mode of participation in external performances and shows will be announced in class. Some possible theoretical writings in-depth the topics covered will be available in the annex on these pages from October 2012.

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/docenti/claudio.longhi2

Office hours

See the website of Claudio Longhi