IL MEDIOEVO TEATRALE DI SILVIO D’AMICO: INTORNO AL MISTERO DELLA NATIVITÀ, PASSIONE E RESURREZIONE DI NOSTRO SIGNORE

Abstract

This paper offers a rereading of some of the works of Silvio d’Amico, the
greatest intellectual influence on Italian theatre in the inter-war period. Focus
is paid in particular to the Mistero della Natività, Passione e Resurrezione di
Nostro Signore which was created in honour of the commemoration of Giotto
in 1937. Both a work of theatrical poetry and of historiographical thought, this
play is examined in the light of the d’Amico’s scholarly essays. This
examination is contextualised within a historiographical reflection on the
oldest theatrical form in the common Italian language which has been
dominated by two myths, first late romantic and then positivist, regarding its
origins and its status as a folk art form.