Scripts of the 'autodrammi', or community plays, of the Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, with introductions and summaries by Richard Andrews.
Details
Type of record: Archive
Title: Scripts of the 'autodrammi', or community plays, of the Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, with introductions and summaries by Richard Andrews.
Classmark: MS 1722
Date(s): 1980s-2007
Language: Italian; English
Size and medium: 26 bound and 12 unbound scripts, some typescript and some word-processed (including some photocopy).
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/7410
Description
Comprises 38 playscripts for the years 1967, 1969-74, 1976-77, 1979-86, 1988-2007. They fall into three groups: (a) 1967-88, scripts retyped in the 1980s; (b) 1989-1993, scripts produced by the Teatro Povero itself for commercial sale; (c) 1994-2007, scripts based on transcriptions of the dramas by Richard Andrews. English summaries are available for the years 1983, 1985, 1988-2007.
Many of the scripts have English introductions and summaries loosely inserted.
Biography or history
Teatro Povero di Monticchiello (Poor Theatre of Monticchiello) is the name given by the people of Monticchiello (near Siena, Tuscany) to the tradition of putting on annual community plays called 'autodrammi' ('performing oneself'). The first such play took place in 1967. Every year since then, the people of Monticchiello have prepared and performed an original play. While the plays are the result of collaborative effort, the main writers have been Mario Guidotti and Andrea Cresti. In the early years the plays were directed by Arnaldo Della Giovampaola. In 1980 the community established the "Cooperativa del Teatro Povero", a co-operative that now organises the theatre and the annual performances.
Provenance
Up to 1998 the scripts from 1967 to 1998 were shelved in the main Brotherton Library, not in Special Collections.
Access and usage
Access
Access to this material is unrestricted.