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From Shakespeare to Shakespeare: the Theatre Transcended
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 January 2009
Abstract
In spite of periods of withdrawal, Leo de Berardinis is one of the few author-directors from the new Italian theatre of the 1960s and 1970s who has remained faithful to the spirit of experiment, and attempted consistently to renew himself and his processes of theatremaking. In an introduction to the interview which follows, Marco de Marinis outlines the earlier years of de Berardinis's career, and notes the characteristic features of the productions of that period. The interview itself explores his view of the theatre and theatricality from the standpoint of the mid-1980s. At its core is a discussion of de Berardinis's 1985 production of King Lear – the director's second encounter with the play – in relation to his own aims, to the interpretive views of other theatre people and critics, and to what de Berardinis believes we may still perceive of Shakespeare's intentions. A postscript by Marco de Marinis outlines subsequent developments in the director's work.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991
References
Bibliographical Note
The remarks attributed to Ronconi, Luca are taken from an interview with Grande, Maurizio, ‘Vorrei un teatro pericoloso’ (‘I Want a Dangerous Theatre’), published in Rinascita, 8 12 1984, p. 16–17.Google Scholar On the theatre of Berardinis, Leo de, see in the first place the material gathered by Quadri, Franco in L'avanguardia teatrale in Italia (Torino: Einaudi, 1977), Vol. 1Google Scholar, in which his 1971 essay ‘Attorno all' eliminazione del teatro’ appears. See also Per un teatro jazz, an interview with de Berardinis by Pino, Oliviero Ponte di, in Gelber's, JackLa connection (Milano: Ubulibri, 1983), p. 101–21Google Scholar, and Interaction, February 1984, on his Hamlet. The so called ‘Manifesto’ of the Italian New Theatre was published in Sipario, November 1966, and the Elementi di discussione given at Ivrea are reprinted in Franco Quadri, op. cit., p. 135–48. On Shakespeare and King Lear, the antithetical and speculative structure underlying the play has been analyzed by Marcello Pagnini in Shakespeare e il paradigma della specularità (Pisa: Pacini, 1976). Kott's, Jan absurdist reading is in his Shakespeare our Contemporary (1961)Google Scholar, and the quotes from Peter Brook are taken from The Empty Space. The reference to Serpieri, Alessandro relates to his article, ‘Il crollo della gerarchia medievale in King Lear’, in Il piccolo Hans, XIX (1978).Google Scholar