A drama «conceived as a serial novel». Translations of the Risorgimento on the stage of the Great Wa

di Teresa Bertilotti
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 29 (2008), p. 101

The article focuses on Italian theatre – and its reception – during the First World War, in particular on the dramas and performances based on the Risorgimento’s history. This type of performance cannot be considered as “high” or “low” theatre: the plots cannot be bound to one category, audience reactions are the same in Milan as they are in small city theatres and in schools, independently from who is acting. The author sheds light on the popularization process of national history through theatre and at the same time, contextualises these apparently opaque plots, in an attempt to understand what the performances conveyed.