Child Actors on Stage between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Child Actors on Stage between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

The essay presents an investigation on child actors, protagonists on Italian and international stages between the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, followed during the research projects of the Theatine unit Actors and Actresses on the Abruzzi Stage (1848-1948) and Theatre Circuits in Central-Adriatic Italy in the First Half of the 20th century: Theatres, Companies, Actors, promoted respectively within Prin 2017 and 2022, under the scientific supervision of Leonardo Spinelli. The reconstruction of the circulation of performers, companies and prose shows in the major historical theatres of the central Adriatic area has in fact highlighted the militancy of boys and girls in dramatic formations built around the success of their performances, with an ad hoc dramaturgy, in domestic and foreign tours that retraced the routes traced by the Great Actors. The preliminary description of the phenomenon, which has already been published, was followed by significant updates on its extent and diffusion. The testimonies collected outline an articulated and complex case study, distinct from the precocious stage prodigies of the leading actors or the most talented offspring, which deserves further study in consideration of the heated critical, legislative and medical debate raised and its possible links with the “fashion” of stable or itinerant children’s troupes, which became fashionable in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as documented by recent studies in the sector.