OVERVIEW

The course is dedicated to the theatre understood as a ‘continuum’ of western civilisation where from ancient theatre, with authors like Seneca and Plautus, we have inherited divisions in 5 acts, mechanisms and ‘returning’ heroes like Medea and Oedipus or for example in melodrama, the very principle of ‘recitarcantando’ - acting-singing. Contemporary texts and Greek-Latin texts will be read to understand the presence of the classical in modern entertainment. 

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

- to discover structure and architectural evolution, authors and texts from ancient Greek and Latin theatre; - to know how to conduct a linguistic and stylistic exegesis on verses in Greek and Latin; - to know how to critically understand and comment, in translation, the remaining texts, understood as scripts that are still staged today; - know how to identify the role of single texts and authors in the fortunes of ancient theatre up until the 20th century.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course, which has been activated for the performance programme, does not include any reading of original Greek or Latin texts. During the semester, the best translations in circulation for the chosen texts will be indicated. The objective is for students to be able to read a theatre text and situate it in time and in the continuum of western tradition, considering for example “The Casket Comedy” by Plautus as the first great text of the literature of the misers. It was also the intermediary inspiration for Molière’s “The Miser” or Goldoni’s “The True Friend”. Students, at the end of the course, will be able to recognize ancient theatre in modern heritage and to read single scenes with this point of view. The exam consists of a reading and evaluation of texts from the ancient and modern periods as scripts and as a terminal moment of an uninterrupted flow of theatre. 

PREREQUISITES

no prerequisites requested

TEACHING METHODS

Direct reading of scenes from the chosen texts, reading from the web of other texts that have not been adopted, projection of sequences of layouts in various eras and evaluation of the best direction.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1) Madness scenes in Prometheus of Aeschylus, Aiax of Sophokles and Bacchae and Herakles of Euripides2)

2) Intellectual nightmares in Nubes of Aristophanes

3) Delirium and madness in XVIII and XIX centuries arts

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Prometheus, Aiax, Herakles, Bacchae, any post 2000 translation

Guido Paduano, Follia e letteratura dal teatro di Dioniso al Novecento, Carocci 2018

Textes and scenes from web or youtube will be pointed out during the course

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARGHERITA RUBINO (President)

CLAUDIO BEVEGNI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

September, 19

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

oral exam

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Assessment of the capacity to understand, translate and “visualise” the possible staging of an ancient text. Knowledge and understanding of plot and mechanisms of text of the chosen theatrical texts. Knowledge from dvds or youtube of famous stagings of the last 20 years of Greek and Latin tragedies or comedies or epigone texts.  

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further bibliographical references will be made available during the semester.