ID:
501408
Duration (hours):
36
CFU:
6
SSD:
DISCIPLINE DELLO SPETTACOLO
Located in:
CREMONA
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Primo Semestre (29/09/2025 - 23/01/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to provide students with a panoramic knowledge of the history of Western theatre: that is, of those artistic-performative practices, whose origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, which have undergone centuries of evolutions, revolutions, restorations and changes of route, eventually flowing into contemporary theatre, the formula familiar to us today: a formula which bears tangible traces, whether superficial or subterranean, of everything that preceded it.
By following a historical parable measuring centuries through a selection of focal moments and theatre forms deemed meaningful, students will gain a better understanding of contemporary theatre, paired with the knowledge of the main turning points that have led to its current multiplicity of forms.
Therefore, they are expected to develop the following skills:
- knowledge and ability to read the complex structure of the languages of theatre and performing arts across their centuries-long evolution (evidenced by a familiarity with elements such as dramaturgical text, spectacular text, scenic writing, direction, acting etc.)
- ability to contextualize the languages of theatre and performing arts within the same timeframe, with particular reference to the tumultuous, radical turn of the twentieth century
- analytical competence regarding both various forms of live performance and their possible aesthetic, pedagogical, anthropological and social consequences.
By following a historical parable measuring centuries through a selection of focal moments and theatre forms deemed meaningful, students will gain a better understanding of contemporary theatre, paired with the knowledge of the main turning points that have led to its current multiplicity of forms.
Therefore, they are expected to develop the following skills:
- knowledge and ability to read the complex structure of the languages of theatre and performing arts across their centuries-long evolution (evidenced by a familiarity with elements such as dramaturgical text, spectacular text, scenic writing, direction, acting etc.)
- ability to contextualize the languages of theatre and performing arts within the same timeframe, with particular reference to the tumultuous, radical turn of the twentieth century
- analytical competence regarding both various forms of live performance and their possible aesthetic, pedagogical, anthropological and social consequences.
Course Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites for attending the course and taking the exam, save for a sufficient degree of familiarity with the teaching language (Italian). However, a general knowledge in the fields of humanities, history and art – even a basic one – would certainly assist students in gaining a more organic and multifaceted understanding of the topics covered throughout the course.
Teaching Methods
The course will be made up of lectures given out in presence, mostly devoted to explanations given out by the professor, but open to questions and to exchanges of views brought forth by students. Explanations will be supported by iconographic materials and videos (provided by the professor through the Kiro platform or freely available online). Students eligible for inclusive teaching will also be granted access to the Zoom recordings of the lectures given out in presence. Attending the largest possible number of lectures in presence, however, is still highly recommended.
Assessment Methods
To verify a satisfactory acquisition of the knowledge offered throughout the course, oral exams will be held after its conclusion, with the lectures and the indicated bibliography as their main sources (replaced, in the case of non-attending students, by the indicated bibliography and the supplementary one). The exam will be considered passed if evaluated with a positive grade on a scale from 18 to 30, per Italian University standards.
Texts
Bibliography for attending students:
- ALONGE ROBERTO, PERRELLI FRANCO, “Storia del teatro e dello spettacolo”, III edition, Utet Università, Novara 2019, capp. I-IX; XI-XII; XIV-XVIII; XXI (pp. 5-206; 225-260; 281-356; 377-388; 322 pp. in total). Several digital versions of the volume - in limited numbers, not unlike physical copies: interested students are advised to borrow them in advance - are available through a loan from the Pandoracampus platform (at this link: https://www.pandoracampus.it/lending/10.978.8860/085771), to which students can register with their University credentials.
- ALONGE ROBERTO, “Un nuovo genere: il dramma borghese”, in AA.VV., “Storia del teatro moderno e contemporaneo”, vol. II, “Il grande teatro borghese. Settecento – Ottocento”, Einaudi, Turin 2000, pp. 855-882. The essay will be made available through the Kiro platform.
To the material listed above, non-attending students will add a second book:
- LEHMANN HANS-THIES, “Postdramatic Theatre”, translated by Karen Jürs-Munby, Routledge, London and New York 2006 (the listed version, an English alternative to the book listed on the Italian syllabus, is merely a reference: preferences regarding language and translation are left to the students).
- ALONGE ROBERTO, PERRELLI FRANCO, “Storia del teatro e dello spettacolo”, III edition, Utet Università, Novara 2019, capp. I-IX; XI-XII; XIV-XVIII; XXI (pp. 5-206; 225-260; 281-356; 377-388; 322 pp. in total). Several digital versions of the volume - in limited numbers, not unlike physical copies: interested students are advised to borrow them in advance - are available through a loan from the Pandoracampus platform (at this link: https://www.pandoracampus.it/lending/10.978.8860/085771), to which students can register with their University credentials.
- ALONGE ROBERTO, “Un nuovo genere: il dramma borghese”, in AA.VV., “Storia del teatro moderno e contemporaneo”, vol. II, “Il grande teatro borghese. Settecento – Ottocento”, Einaudi, Turin 2000, pp. 855-882. The essay will be made available through the Kiro platform.
To the material listed above, non-attending students will add a second book:
- LEHMANN HANS-THIES, “Postdramatic Theatre”, translated by Karen Jürs-Munby, Routledge, London and New York 2006 (the listed version, an English alternative to the book listed on the Italian syllabus, is merely a reference: preferences regarding language and translation are left to the students).
Contents
The course endeavors to provide a scholarly parable of the history of Western theatre by identifying various temporal "blocks" deemed most significant to its development. These blocks, while not necessarily set in stone, are likely to include:
- ancient Greece and Rome
- Middle Ages performance split between clerics and jesters
- Humanist Renaissance
- major national dramaturgies from sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe (William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan England, Christian Spain during its siglo de oro, absolutist France of the grand siecle)
- the development of bourgeois dramaturgy (through the works of Denis Diderot and Carlo Goldoni, and with Henrik Ibsen as the foremost example)
- nineteenth and twentieth-century Italian grand’attori
- the theatrical revolutions of the twentieth century (direction, actor training, laboratory practices etc.; studied masters may include Konstantin Stanislavskij, Bertolt Brecht, Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba).
The possibility of dwelling on contemporary theatre through selected case studies will remain extant, preferably made to dialogue with topics examined throughout the course.
- ancient Greece and Rome
- Middle Ages performance split between clerics and jesters
- Humanist Renaissance
- major national dramaturgies from sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe (William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan England, Christian Spain during its siglo de oro, absolutist France of the grand siecle)
- the development of bourgeois dramaturgy (through the works of Denis Diderot and Carlo Goldoni, and with Henrik Ibsen as the foremost example)
- nineteenth and twentieth-century Italian grand’attori
- the theatrical revolutions of the twentieth century (direction, actor training, laboratory practices etc.; studied masters may include Konstantin Stanislavskij, Bertolt Brecht, Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba).
The possibility of dwelling on contemporary theatre through selected case studies will remain extant, preferably made to dialogue with topics examined throughout the course.
Course Language
Italian
More information
The course page on the Kiro platform (which, when logged in, can be found here: https://elearning.unipv.it/course/view.php?id=10633), potentially linked to one or more Google Drive folders viewable by students, will contain supplementary teaching materials.
Degrees
Degrees (4)
HUMANITIES AND CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDIES
Bachelor’s Degree
3 years
MUSICOLOGY
Bachelor’s Degree
3 years
MUSICOLOGY
Master’s Degree
2 years
MUSICOLOGY
Master’s Degree
2 years
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