Course title:
"Forms and Models of Theatre and Performance"

Course programme:
The course aims to provide a general overview of theatrical forms from classical times to the present day, focusing on the study of theatrical spaces, dramaturgical and acting models, and the actor-spectator relationship.
In class, students will address the following topics to be discussed in the final exam:

1. Definition of theatricality, performativity and performatic, dramatic and post-dramatic
2. Theatre as medium: towards a mediology of theatre and performance
3. Performance and live communication in mediatized contexts
4. Theatre of Ancient Greece and Middle Ages
5. Theatre of the 16th Century
6. The Commedia dell’Arte
7. Theatre of the 17th and 18th centuries
8. Theatre of the 19th century: from Romanticism to Naturalism
9. Theatre in the 20th century: the origin of directing and the historical Avant-gardes
10. Forms of contemporary theatre: the example of English immersive theatre
11. The evolution of the actor’s figure in the theatre cultures: performatic corpospheres and facespheres
12. The role of the spectator: perception, participation and regimes of spectatorship
13. Theatrical forms (of experience) as ecological systems: the evolution of stage space
14. Environmental Theatre
15. Performatic Ecosystems: transformations, evolutions and hybridisations in theatre practices
16. Monstration and autopoietic enunciation in performatic practices

Primary Bibliography (for attending and not-attending students)
Handbook:
L. Allegri (ed), "Storia del teatro. Le idee e le forme dello spettacolo dall’antichità a oggi", Roma, Carocci, 2017.
N.B. the following paragraphs/chapters are to be excluded as a part of the exam: 4.4; 5.6; 8.2.1; 8.2.2; 8.3.1; 8.3.2; 8.4.1; 8.4.3; 11.4; 12 (tutto il capitolo).

Monograph:
L. Gemini, S. Brilli, "Gradienti di liveness. Performance e comunicazione dal vivo nei contesti mediatizzati", Milano, Franco Angeli, 2023.

In addition, it is recommended to fully read the following plays, which will be the focus of analysis during the lectures:

L. Pirandello, "I giganti della montagna"
S. Beckett, "Krapp's last tape"
W. Shakespeare, "King Lear"
C. Goldoni, "La Locandiera"
A. Chechov, "Il Giardino dei ciliegi"

Editions as well as translations will be provided during the lectures (and listed on the moodle for not-attending students). With regard to "La Locandiera," "King Lear" and Il Giardino dei ciliegi", it is also recommended to attend the plays in the 2024/2025 season of the Teatro dell'Unione in Viterbo, in agreement with DISUCOM.

For not-attending students only (in addition to the primary bibliography):
Essays (available in pdf on the moodle):
M.R. Beato, Il corpo performático come interfaccia organica nel teatro e nel cinema, «Carte Semiotiche», Annali 11, 2024 (in stampa).
Un mondo possibile in una stanza: la “sommersività” come forma di trascendenza, «Annali di Studi Religiosi», 24, 2023, 89-98.
From mask to flesh and back: a semiotic analysis of the actor’s face between theatre and cinema, «TOPOI», vol 41, n 4, 2022, 755-769.
“Presence effects in the immersive binaural audio experiences”, in Audiovisual e Indùstrias Criativas: Presente e Futuro, Madrid, McGraw-Hill/Interamericana de España, S.L., 2021, 715-728.
Opacità e trasparenze della cornice performativa nel teatro immersivo, «Carte Semiotiche», Annali 7, 2021, 181-198.
L’enunciazione teatrale tra embodiment e semiotica del visivo, «E/C», 30, 2020, 32-42.

Many of the topics addressed during the lectures will not be found in the basic bibliography. For this reason, the lectures' slides, provided by the lecturer, are an integral part of the exam material.