Set the stage! : teaching Italian through theater / edited by Nicoletta Marini-Maio and Colleen Ryan-Scheutz.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Marini-Maio, Nicoletta, 1961-

Ryan-Scheutz, Colleen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Italian language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers.

Italian language.

Drama in education.

Physical Description:

x, 405 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2010]

Summary:

Set the Stage! is a collection of essays on teaching Italian language, literature, and culture through theater. It offers all of the resources that teachers need to incorporate the rich and abundant Italian theater tradition into the curriculum. Teachers of all levels, from lower-division language courses to full-scale theater workshops and productions, will find essays that cover a wide range of topics related to teaching through theater, including nonverbal communication, the Italian theatrical canon, student interaction, and assessment of learner progress.

In addition to providing theoretical background and case studies, Set the Stage! includes concrete examples and guidelines for integrating theater into Italian courses. The combination of theoretical and practical perspectives in this book presents both new instructors and theater veterans with useful suggestions to initiate, develop, coordinate, and assess theater courses and workshops.

Set the Stage! also features The "Director's Handbook," a comprehensive guide with detailed instructions for every step of the process, from choosing a text to the final performance; An exclusive interview with Nobel laureate Dario Fo; A foreword by prize-winning author Dacia Maraini.

This book lays the groundwork for further discussion of teaching methods that incorporate theater and drama, and it underscores the value of these practices throughout the Italian curriculum.

Contents:

Prologue: Theater Performance with American Students / Dacia Maraini, translated by Elena Past 19

I Theater in Italian Literature and Culture

1 Authors, Texts, and Innovative Movements: An Overview of the Italian Theatrical Canon / Pietro Frassica 27

2 Acting Italian: From the Piazza to the Stage / William Van Watson 50

II Theater Courses in the Italian Language Curriculum

3 The Theatrical Workshop in the Italian Curriculum / Salvatore Bancheri 83

4 Creative Connections: The Theater Practicum and the Integration of Language and Literature Study / Francesca Savoia 114

5 Theater Texts and Techniques in the High School Classroom / Laura Colangelo, Colleen Ryan-Scheutz 144

III Genres, Themes, and Techniques of Italian Theater

6 Epic Theater, Comic Mode: Understanding Italian Society through the Works of Dario Fo and Franca Rame / Walter Valeri 171

7 Commedia dell'Arte's Techniques: Theater Research and Italian Language Interplay / Gian Giacomo Colli 187

8 Opera as Theme, Opera as Theater: A Content-Based Approach to the Teaching of Italian Language and Culture / Daniela Noe-Le Sassier, Frances Boyd 212

IV Methods and Assessment in Italian Theater Workshops

9 Full-Scale Play Production: Filling the "Empty Space" between Language and Literature with Fo and Pirandello / Nicoletta Marini-Maio 239

10 Community, Culture, and Body Language: Staging the Female Voice in the Italian Drama Workshop / Antonella Del Fattore-Olson 267

11 Proficiency and Performance: Assessing Learner Progress in the Italian Theater Workshop / Colleen Ryan-Scheutz 291

V Director's Handbook

Text Selection: A Few Criteria / William Van Watson 323

Financial Resources, Publicity, and Community / Salvatore Bancheri 330

The Italian Drama Workshop in Three Acts / Antonella Del Fattore-Olson 333

Training the Body, Coaching the Mind: Preliminary Acting Exercises / Gian Giacomo Colli 334

Monologue/Monodrama Projects / Francesca Savoia 339

English Translations and Surtitles for the Public Performance: Rationale and Practicalities / Nicoletta Marini-Maio 342

"It's Showtime!" A Concise Guide to Italian Theater Production for New Directors / Laura Colangelo 350

Afterword: An Interview with Dario Fo and Franca Rame. Thoughts on Theater, Engagement, and the Comic. Examples for a New Pedagogy / Interview by Walter Valeri, translated by Giuseppe Gazzola 383.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300109856

0300109857

OCLC:

223869994