Engagement, communication and consolation in the storyteller's theater

Abstract

In the context of the Italian theatre of the second half of the twentieth century, mostly characterized by a propensity towards the aesthetic and the formalistic, the productions of the narratori (storytellers) are often charged with an ethical and civil value, following in the footsteps of Dario Fo in whose giullarate it is possible to identify the archetype of a storytelling theatre based on a strong political engagement. The narratori, indeed, investigated the most significant tragedies of Italian public history and the contradictions of contemporaneity. However, many narrative shows – despite their antagonistic and counter-informative intent – risk becoming somehow consolatory. Since their spectators usually share the same political and ideological values as the narratori themselves, they tend to listen to their words for confirmation of the goodness and equity of their own ideas. Another point to consider is that the success of the narratori has led a large number of actors and even amateur actors (journalists, scientists, and writers) to stage narrative shows, with an unavoidable and progressive attrition of the model taken as an example