In the Wings: Offstage Labour in a Provincial Italian Theatre

Bortolotti, Raphaël; Brunello, Giulia; Kappeler, Annette (2022). In the Wings: Offstage Labour in a Provincial Italian Theatre Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, 102(1), pp. 333-359. Walter de Gruyter 10.1515/qufiab-2022-0016

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The historical archive in Feltre (Veneto) preserves inventories of its Teatro Sociale that testify to this provincial theatre’s importance to the town and the surrounding area during the 19th century. These inventories are rare sources that have never previously been analysed. Based on these documents, this article investigates the world behind the scenes and extracts information on the staff involved in running the theatre. Offstage workers are generally forgotten on playbills and in theatre periodicals (which pay tribute to onstage artists and report the repertoire of travelling theatre companies), and they do not figure significantly in the documents of theatre companies such as contracts, correspondence and regulations. To a greater extent than other sources, these inventories provide a window onto the labour of these workers, who made a highly significant, if less visible, contribution to performances and the running of a theatre.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

Bern Academy of the Arts
Bern Academy of the Arts > Institute Interpretation
Bern Academy of the Arts > Institute Interpretation > Performance and interpretation

Name:

Bortolotti, Raphaël;
Brunello, Giulia0009-0002-2636-6441 and
Kappeler, Annette0000-0001-5613-3927

Subjects:

D History General and Old World > DG Italy
N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
N Fine Arts > NK Decorative arts Applied arts Decoration and ornament
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater
T Technology > TT Handicrafts Arts and crafts

ISSN:

0079-9068

Publisher:

Walter de Gruyter

Language:

English

Submitter:

Raphaël Bortolotti

Date Deposited:

05 Dec 2022 11:46

Last Modified:

14 Mar 2023 21:46

Publisher DOI:

10.1515/qufiab-2022-0016

ARBOR DOI:

10.24451/arbor.18123

URI:

https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/18123

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