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Chapter 7. Narrating and unravelling Italian crises through Shakespeare (2000–2016)

  • Maria Elisa Montironi
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Shakespeare and Crisis
This chapter is in the book Shakespeare and Crisis

Abstract

Contemporary Italian theatre has witnessed a wide range of Shakespearean productions, whose significance with respect to the theme of crisis has been twofold. On the one hand, Shakespeare has been employed in Italy to face the radical reduction in economic support suffered by theatre professionals, who have then relied on the marketability of the Bard’s ‘brand’ for funding and to draw audiences to the theatre. On the other hand, Shakespeare’s plays have proved functional to unravelling cultural, social and political problems in Italy. Accordingly, this chapter investigates the function of Shakespeare both as a marketing strategy and as an intellectual tool to tackle the different crises which have traversed Italy since the beginning of the new millennium.

Abstract

Contemporary Italian theatre has witnessed a wide range of Shakespearean productions, whose significance with respect to the theme of crisis has been twofold. On the one hand, Shakespeare has been employed in Italy to face the radical reduction in economic support suffered by theatre professionals, who have then relied on the marketability of the Bard’s ‘brand’ for funding and to draw audiences to the theatre. On the other hand, Shakespeare’s plays have proved functional to unravelling cultural, social and political problems in Italy. Accordingly, this chapter investigates the function of Shakespeare both as a marketing strategy and as an intellectual tool to tackle the different crises which have traversed Italy since the beginning of the new millennium.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Part 1. Identity crises
  7. Chapter 1. 1916 25
  8. Chapter 2. Waiting for Caesar 51
  9. Chapter 3. Fascist crises 95
  10. Part 2. Power games and the crisis of history
  11. Chapter 4. “A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality” 149
  12. Chapter 5. Allegorising and minoritising Richard III 175
  13. Part 3. Crises of representation
  14. Chapter 6. Notes on Shakespeare, simulacra, and the aporias of ‘acting’ 215
  15. Chapter 7. Narrating and unravelling Italian crises through Shakespeare (2000–2016) 245
  16. Afterword 277
  17. Index of Names 283
  18. Index of Subjects 291
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.2.07mon

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Part 1. Identity crises
  7. Chapter 1. 1916 25
  8. Chapter 2. Waiting for Caesar 51
  9. Chapter 3. Fascist crises 95
  10. Part 2. Power games and the crisis of history
  11. Chapter 4. “A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality” 149
  12. Chapter 5. Allegorising and minoritising Richard III 175
  13. Part 3. Crises of representation
  14. Chapter 6. Notes on Shakespeare, simulacra, and the aporias of ‘acting’ 215
  15. Chapter 7. Narrating and unravelling Italian crises through Shakespeare (2000–2016) 245
  16. Afterword 277
  17. Index of Names 283
  18. Index of Subjects 291
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