Chasing the young Duse

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4000/mimesis.2758

Keywords:

Naples, Eleonora Duse, Il Mattino, Martino Cafiero, appendix novel

Abstract

This paper reviews Martino Cafiero’s Volere, potere. Contro Eleonora Duse, edited by Teresa Megale and Elena Lenzi. Through unpublished sources the book leads to unexpected discoveries and makes new contributions to the history of nineteenth-century theater. The appendix novel Volere Potere, published as a serial in the newspaper «Corriere del Mattino», has been transcribed in complete. The feuilleton tells the love story between Silvio Hall and the actress Lidina, but behind the fiction lies the controversial story of the author's relationship with Eleonora Duse. A narrative source that Cafiero disseminates with references and that, connected with other documents, highlights the time of Duse's stay in Naples, between the end of 1878 and the beginning of 1880. This was a significant period for the actress who underwent training here following her debut on the stage of the Teatro dei Fiorentini.

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Author Biography

Antonia Liberto, University of Florence

PhD and Research fellow in Performing Arts (L-ART/05) at the Florence University, editor of AMAtI Archive (Archivio Multimediale Attori Italiani). My field of study includes the History of Italian Theatre between 16th and 20th centuries, with a focus on dialectal theatre, street performers and circus, the Neapolitan theatrical culture, the representation of otherness in the Modern Age and the study of italian actresses. I translated the clown Albert Fratellini's autobiography Noi, i Fratellini (Tab edizioni, Roma 2022, ed. T. Megale). Combining theory and practice I work with Binario di Scambio, the theatre company of the Florence University, in training projects for the dissemination of theatrical culture.

Published

2023-06-10

How to Cite

Liberto, A. (2023). Chasing the young Duse. Mimesis Journal, 12(1), 133–142. https://doi.org/10.4000/mimesis.2758

Issue

Section

Readings and Visions