1. The Theatre of the Italian Renaissance6
The Theatre of the
Italian Renaissance
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2. Background: The Renaissance in Italy
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3. Jaume Serra
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6. Humanism
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7. Printing Press
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8. Italian Theatre Drama Tragedies and Comedies Intermezzi and Pastorals
THE MANDRAKE
(© Erin Beth Donnelly)
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9. Italian Theatre (continued)
Opera
Only theatrical form of the Italian Renaissance to survive
Scarlatti
Mozart
Wagner
Verdi
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10. Italian Theatre (continued)
Commedia dell’Arte: A Popular Theatrical Form
Conventions of Commedia dell’Arte
Commedia Companies
I Gelosi
Influence of Commedia dell’Arte
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11. The Stock Characters of Commedia dell’Arte
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12. Italian Theatre Architecture
Theatre Buildings
Teatro Farnese and the Proscenium Stage
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13. Teatro Olimpico
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14. The Theatre at Sabbioneta
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15. Teatro Farnese and the Proscenium Stage
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16. Italian Dramatic Criticism
The Neoclassical Ideals
Decorum and Verisimilitude
The Unities: Time, Place, and Action
Genre and Other Rules
The Neoclassicists’ Influence
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17. Decorum
Characters should behave according to their status (age, sex, profession, rank, etc)
Marriage of Figaro
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18. Verisimilitude Drama should be true to life
No ghosts or supernatural events
Not realism but more stock situations and characters.
Recognizable types
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19. Italian Dramatic Criticism (continued)
Issues of Dramatic Criticism
The Nature of Criticism:
Descriptive – what has happened before
Ex. Mourning Becomes Electra – O’Neill
Prescriptive Criticism – rules and formulas
The Nature of Drama: Should Theatre Be Didactic? Should plays teach or should art exist for art’s sake.
Horace?
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20. Neoclassical Structure
3 Unities
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21. Genre
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22. The Legacy of the Italian Renaissance
Almost all western theatre was eventually influenced by Italian dramatic criticism and advances of the Italian Renaissance
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