In:Shakespeare and Crisis: One hundred years of Italian narratives
Edited by Silvia Bigliazzi
[Shakespeare in European Culture 2] 2020
► pp. 149–174
Chapter 4“A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality”
Strehler’s journey through Shakespeare
Published online: 22 June 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.2.04nig
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.2.04nig
Abstract
Shakespeare’s plays proved crucial in Strehler’s career in many respects as they provided ‘narratives’ through
which he could interpret the sequence of cultural, political, and social crises that he acknowledged, experienced personally, and more
or less directly addressed in his own theatre. This chapter explores how, through specific Shakespearean plays, these crises – which
were both individual and collective – raised in Strehler questions on the nature of history. It also explores Strehler’s interrogation
of the role of man in a world dominated by monotonous and nonsensical power games from the perspective of a cyclic view of history.
Strehler’s encounter with Shakespeare is examined through his own writings as well as reviews and other related material. This
constitutes a second-level focus mapping onto the role of different types of narratives in our reconstruction of Strehler’s own
dynamic understanding of Italy within the international context over a time-span of thirty years.
Keywords: Shakespeare, Strehler, crisis, narratives, history
Article outline
- “Everything could move in a direction or in its opposite”
- A new cultural scene: The Piccolo as a civic and political response to Italian theatrical (and cultural) postwar isolation
- Strehler, Shakespeare, and the “circle of history”
- The Tempest as “the ultimate question upon man’s destiny and history”
- Conclusion
Notes References Appendix
References (57)
Acquarone, Alessandro. 2009. Pratica
ed etica del management teatrale. Per una ridefinizione dell’ “organizzazione ed economia dello
spettacolo.” Milano: Franco Angeli.
Bemporad, Giovanna. 1948. “La
‘Tempesta’ di Shakespeare nel verde scenario di Boboli.” Il Mattino del
popolo 17 June. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Berry, Ralph. 1989. On
Directing Shakespeare: Interviews with Contemporary
Directors. London: Hamish Hamilton.
Bo, Francesco. 1987. “Dossier
Ivrea 1967. Le opinioni di chi partecipò. I ricordi di Ambrosino, Bajini Barba, Calenda, Capriolo, De Berardinis, Fo, Mango,
Moscati, Ricci, Ronconi, Scabia, Trionfo.” Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Buzzati, Dino. 1950. “Il
sanguinario Ricci ha ricordato
Frankenstein.” Bis 3 April. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Coduri, Maria. 2013. A
Travelling Tale: Shakespeare on the Italian Stage. MPhil
diss. University College London.
Colli, Gian Giacomo. 2004. “Shakespeare in a Fountain:
The First Italian Production of The Tempest Directed by Giorgio Strehler in
1948.” Theatre Research
International 29 (2): 174–185.
Colombo, Rosy, ed. 2007. William
Shakespeare, Agostino Lombardo e Giorgio Strehler. La
Tempesta. Roma: Donzelli.
Cuminetti, Benvenuto. 1972. “‘Re
Lear’ ha riportato Strehler al Piccolo.” L’eco di
Bergamo 7 November. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
De Chiara, Ghigo. 1957. “Un
eroe della
conquista.” Rotosei 22 November. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Dini, Sandro. 1938. “Un
tramvai per
Shakespeare.” Cinestar 8 May. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Dymkowski, Christine, ed. 2000. Shakespeare
in Production: The Tempest. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Florindo (Giovanni
Mosca). 1948. “Edoardo I e Riccardo
II.” Candido 2 May. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Forlani, Mimma. 1974a. “‘Re
Lear’ di Shakespeare al Donizetti.” L’Eco di
Bergamo 21 February. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
. 1974b. “Scontro
di generazioni in ‘Re Lear’.” L’Eco di
Bergamo 24 February. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
. 1974c. “‘Re
Lear, tragedia della decadenza.” L’Eco di
Bergamo 27 February. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Ginsborg, Paul. 1990. A
History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics
1943–1988. London: Penguin.
Grassi, Paolo, and Giorgio Strehler. 1964. “Sixteen
Years of the Piccolo Teatro.” Translated by Ruby Cohn and Michael Campo. The
Tulane Drama
Review 8 (3): 27–49.
Horowitz, Arthur. 2004. Prospero’s
“True Preservers”: Peter Brook, Yukio Ninagawa, and Giorgio Strelher: Twentieth-century Directors’ Approach: Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press.
Kessler, Sinahed. 1974. Giorgio
Strehler: Per un teatro umano. Pensieri scritti, parlati e
attuati. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Koselleck, Reinhart. 2002. The
Practice of Conceptual History: Timing History, Spacing Concepts. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Lazzari, Arturo [A. L.]. 1968. “Giorgio Strehler si dimette
dal
‘Piccolo’.” L’Unità 22 July. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Locatelli, Stefano. 2015. Teatro
Pubblico Servizio? Studi sui primordi del Piccolo Teatro e sul sistema teatrale
italiano. Milano: Centro delle Arti.
Lunari, Luigi. 1978. “La
‘Tempesta’ continua la meditazione sul potere e la
storia.” Avanti! 28 October. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Mambrini, Clarissa Egle. 2013. Il giovane Strehler: Da Novara al
Piccolo Teatro di Milano. Vignate (MI): Lampi di Stampa.
Mason Vaughan, Virginia. 2011. Shakespeare
in Performance: The Tempest. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Mazzocchi, Federica, and Alberto Bentoglio, eds. 1997. Giorgio
Strehler e il suo
teatro. Roma: Bulzoni.
McManus, Donald. 2008. “Giorgio
Strehler.” In The Routledge Companion to Directors’
Shakespeare, edited by John Russell Brown, 441–456. London: Routledge.
Mezzadri, Carlo. 1972. “Strehler
si confessa: perché proprio ‘Re Lear’.” Gazzetta di
Parma 20 October.
Pasolini, Pier Paolo. 1968. Manifesto per un Nuovo
Teatro. Accessed August 24,
2018. [URL]
Perlman, Mace. 2015. “Giorgio
Strehler’s Arte: A Commedia Master Directs
Shakespeare.” In The Routledge Companion to Commedia
Dell’Arte, edited by Judith Chaffee and Oliver Crick, 370–377. Abingdon: Routledge.
. 2017. “Giorgio
Strehler’s Il Gioco dei potenti.” In Shakespeare, Italy, and
Transnational Exchange, edited by Enza De Francisci and Chris Stamatakis, 246–264. New York: Routledge.
Piselli, Elisa. 2005. Nuovo
teatro e formazione dello spettatore: Origini, pratiche,
teorie. Bologna: Edizioni Teatri di Vita.
Poli, Magda, ed. 2007. Milano
in Piccolo. Il Piccolo Teatro nelle pagine del Corriere della
sera. Milano: Rizzoli.
Quasimodo, Salvatore. 1948. “Tempesta
in una
vasca.” Bis 15 June. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Radice, Raul. 1950. “Il
re perfido muore alle due di
notte.” Europeo 26 February. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Rebora, Roberto. 1950. “Nel
Riccardo III comanda la morte.” Fiera
Letteraria 26 February. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Savinio, Alberto. 1948. “Parola
e
Azione.” Bis 15 June. Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
Squarzina, Luigi. 2009. “La
motivazione civile e politica nella rappresentazione streheleriana dei drammi storici di
Shakespeare.” Accessed January 17,
2019. [URL] (also in 2009. Giorgio
Strehler: atti del convegno di studi su “Giorgio Strehler e il teatro
pubblico,” 31–38. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino).
Strehler, Giorgio. 1957–1958. “Riflessione
sul testo shakespeariano e sulla sua interpretazione
scenica.” Accessed January 17,
2019. [URL]
. 1977–1978. “Appunti
di regia della Tempesta del 1978 (seconda edizione).” Accessed January 17, 2019. [URL]
. 1979. “Inscenare
Shakespeare.” In Shakespeare e Jonson. Il teatro elisabettiano
oggi, edited by Agostino Lombardo, 280–302. Roma: Officine Edizioni.
. 1983. “Appunti
di regia della Tempesta – edizione
1983.” Accessed January 17,
2019. [URL]
. 2002. “Notes
on The Tempest.” Translated by Thomas Simpson. PAJ:
A Journal of Performance and
Art 24 (3): 1–17.
Tempera, Mariangela. 2004. “Italian
Responses to Shakespeare’s Histories.” In Shakespeare’s History Plays.
Performance, Translation and Adaptation in Britain and Abroad, edited by Ton Hoenselaars, 115–132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tessari, Roberto. 1996. Teatro
italiano del Novecento. Fenomenologie e strutture,
1906–1976. Firenze: Le Lettere.
