La storiografia del teatro in Italia e il concetto di “performance”

This contribution retraces a brief history of theatre historiography in Italy from the last decades of the nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the main ideas that have influenced the development of the discipline and its methodologies. This history begins with the gradual shift in critical focus away from the dramatic text and towards the study of the material conditions of theatre and its position in history—that is, a shift towards process rather than product—and then turns to the reception of the concept of ‘performance’. Regarding the latter, the article offers an overview of the different positions taken by leading Italian scholars regarding the performance studies originating in the United States. It concludes with a reflection on the specificity of European theatrology, strongly oriented towards an understanding of cultural artefacts in light of their context and historical dimension.