OVERVIEW

The teaching provides a historical and theoretical framework useful to orient the student in the multifaceted panorama of the contemporary theatre scene. To this end it aims at: 1) problematizing the processes of composition and fruition of contemporary performance; 2) indicating the distinctive elements of contemporary theatre and performance; 3) investigating the contamination between theater, dance and performance.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

When it comes to theatre, "contemporaneity" is more than a purely chronological concept: it is the very condition of its social and cultural meaning. The course aims to provide the informative, theoretical, and critical tools for recognizing the "current relevance" of the theatre, intended primarily as an overview of current experiences and trends, but also as an analysis of the ways they reflect and contribute to community life.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of teaching, students demonstrate:

a)  to give an historical overview of the main phenomena relating to theatre from the second half of the twentieth century to the present;

b)  to know and use the main theoretical tools concerning the contemporary scene;

c)  to describe and analyse the contemporary performance;

d) to recognize the multiplicity of the scene-audience relationship that underlies the contemporary performance.

PREREQUISITES

There are no prerequisites, but a basic knowledge of the history of theatre is certainly useful.

Registration to Aulaweb is mandatory.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures.

Active participation in the lesson will also be encouraged, in order to facilitate the understanding of the contents of the teaching and to develop an independent reflection on them. Activities will be organized, to be carried out independently and in groups, such as analysis of texts and videos, exchanges of notes, self-assessment questionnaires.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

After an introductory part, dedicated to the fundamental issues related to the study of the contemporary scene, the course is divided into thematic areas: dramatic writing, use of the performer’s body, composition of time, space and sound.

Each thematic area will be addressed by analysing some reference performances, through a wide range of sources (dramatic texts, reviews, theoretical texts, photographs, audiovisual documentation). The performances under analysis belong to a historical period between the second half of the Twentieth century and the early years of the Twenty-first, but there will be no lack of plunging into the first half of the twentieth century.

Erasmus students with insufficient familiarity with the Italian language can agree on a substitute bibliography and take the exam in a substitute language (English and French).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Erika Fisher-Lichte, Estetica del performativo, Roma, Carocci, 2014 (chapters 1-4).

 - Fabio Acca, Roberto Alonge, Sonia Bellavia, Elena Cervellati, Roberta Ferraresi, Storie di spettacoli. Uno sguardo contemporaneo, Torino, UTET 2023 (chapters  1-4).

 - Selection of documents made available on Aulaweb.

Non attending students (that is, students who will follow less than 22 hours of the 40 hours provided by the teaching) are invited to contact the teacher to agree on an additional bibliography.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

February 2026.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral interview.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Expected knowledge and skills will be verified through an oral interview. Preparation is considered adequate if students demonstrate:

- to know how to place historically the events and the theatrical phenomena introduced during the teaching;

- to understand the fundamental theoretical and critical problems introduced by the teaching, explaining them with appropriate terminology;

- to identify and analyse the essential characteristics of contemporary performance.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with disabilities or DSAs are reminded that in order to request adaptations in the exam, they must first enter their certification on the University website at servizionline.unige.it in the "Students" section. The documentation will be verified by the University's Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and DSA Sector (https://rubrica.unige.it/strutture/struttura/100111). Subsequently, at least 10 days before the date of the exam, an e-mail
must be sent to the teacher with whom you will take the exam, including in the knowledge copy both the School's Teacher Referent for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with DSA (Prof. Elisabetta Colagrossi: elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it) and the Sector indicated above. The e-mail should specify: the name of the teaching; the date of the call; the student's last name, first name and roll number; the compensatory tools and dispensatory measures deemed functional; and required.  The contact person will confirm to the lecturer that the applicant is entitled to apply for adaptations in the examination and that these adaptations must be agreed upon with the lecturer. The lecturer will respond by informing whether the requested adaptations can be used. Requests should be sent at least 10 days before the date of the call in order to allow the lecturer(s) to evaluate the content. In particular, in case you intend to make use of maps conceptual maps for the exam (which must be much more concise than the maps used for studying) if the submission does not meet the deadline there will not be the technical time needed to make any changes.