The Mask in Contemporary Italian Theatre (From Dario Fo to the New theater of Narration to the transgressive Masks of Ricci/Forte (crossing the Commedia dell’Arte, Goldoni and Pirandello)

This course proposes to expand students' knowledge of contemporary Italian theatre through a special concentration on the mask, a central element of theatrical language. In a perpetual dialogue between tradition and contemporary practice we will place in confrontation the following elements: -certain key characteristics of the Commedia dell'arte and the theatre of Dario Fo and his storytelling masks -the renovation of tradition achieved by Goldoni and the theatre of Toni Servillo -some fundamentals of Brecht's "epic theatre" and the new theatre of Italian of narration - the dissolution of the "I" achieved in Pirandello's theater and the new dramaturgy of certain groups in the latest theatrical generations in Italy.

In so doing, the course intends to provide some cultural-historical coordinates regarding the usage and the sense of the mask and its dramaturgy. At the same time, through the observation of certain particularly significant works of contemporary Italian theatre, the students will be able to confront their study materials with concrete examples, comprehend from within the specifics of theatrical language (largely by virtue of the instructor's field experience as a theatrical author and interpreter), and develop an approach to the proposed video materials that is both personal and critical.

Required text: Dario Fo, Manuale minimo dell’attore, Torino: Einaudi -ISBN 9788806200510