Comico al femminile. Protagoniste, processi e trasformazioni (1815-1915)

Is it possible to speak of female comedy in nineteenth-century Italian prose theatre? And if so, in what terms? This volume attempts to answer these questions by filtering the narrative through the reference parameters of the spectacular system of the era. Without falling into easy anachronisms and misleading contemporary perspectives on the topic, the narration traces an entire century, contemplating its changes and stratifications through some exemplary case studies about the non-dialectal Italian acting profession. The investigation analyzes the available sources, seeking the tangible continuities that characterize the transformation of the traits of female comedy in prose theatre, thanks to the new dramaturgy and the reactive socio-cultural context. Through the experience and career of the actresses who contributed to guiding and interpreting the “comic” specialization, an attempt is made to fill the historiographical gap regarding this unpublished cross-section of nineteenth-century Italian theatre history.