Transmission of Performing Knowledge: Theatre Schools and the Production System

The contribution aims to trace the birth, development, crisis, role and characteristics of theatre schools in Italy during the 20th century. The schools will be analysed in relation to the production system. Theatre schools today represent a recent achievement for the Italian theatre scene that is very complex to analyse: in fact, many structures exist throughout the territory, with very different didactic systems and different nomenclatures that create misunderstandings as to the school’s ultimate objective: to offer professional training or an artistic education proposal. Actors’ schools, public or private, whether or not they grant a recognised qualification, have always had a close relationship with the active theatre and production system, not only for the introduction new artists into the world of work, but also for having had, over the years, the ability to condition or adapt to new artistic and production systems.