Staging the Post-Avant-Garde: Italian Experimental Performance after 1970

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the emergence of the Italian theatrical post-avant-garde marked a watershed in the development of experimental performance. In its vital mix of aesthetic experimentalism and philosophical and political engagement, the work of directors such as Federico Tiezzi, Mario Martone, Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, and Romeo Castellucci confronted the ubiquitous influence of North American art, performance, and popular culture, while challenging and transforming the European theatrical avant-garde. This book provides the first full-length English-language study of the emergence and development of this work, its theoretical underpinning, and its impact on contemporary performance theory and practice. In detailed and illustrated analyses of performances by key companies including Magazzini Criminali, Nobili di Rosa/Falso Movimento, Gaia Scienza/Compagnia Teatrale di Barberio Corsetti, and Societas Raffaello Sanzio, this book sets out the post-avant-garde’s highly rigorous engagement with concepts of the real, contemporary urban experience, the nature of mass media, and visual and performance art. The book concludes with an exploration of performance by a new generation of companies who have extended this post-avant-garde practice in performances engaging with the aesthetics of theatre, film and new technologies, including Motus, Masque, Teatrino Clandestino, Fanny and Alexander and Egumteatro.