The fantastic in the Italian drama of the early twentieth century

Abstract

The article offers a concise outline of the presence of fantastic in Italian early twentieth-century drama, with the intention to demonstrate that it was not only through narrative, but also through dramatic composition that Italian fantasy made a place for itself in the last century. The analysis focuses in particular on four moments in this theatrical trend: a play of Enrico Annibale Butti strongly influenced by Poe; the occult side of futurist «teatro sintetico» (synthetic theatre); the group of «grotesque» playwrights, with a particular attention to Luigi Antonelli’s work; and the presence of “magical realism” in Massimo Bontempelli’s plays.

Keywords

• fantastic theatre
• early twentieth-century Italian drama
• futurist theatre
• theatre of «grotesque»
• magic realism.