A “Varieties” Archive. The Galli-Grazia Company, between Performance and Organisational Dynamics of the Spectacle

The essay aims to present the archive of the Galli-Grazia theatrical and film society of Bologna, kept in the “Silvio d’Amico” Fund and housed inside the Bernardini Library in Lecce. The archive was made available to d’Amico for the editing of the Enciclopedia dello spettacolo; when, in 1971, the University of Lecce (now the University of Salento) purchased part of the Roman critic’s library, a large number of documents belonging to Felice Galli and Alberto Grazia arrived in Salento. Excluding an exhibition curated at the University of Salento, no mention has ever been made of the existence of such an archive; the documents make it possible to reconstruct the dynamics related to the organization of theatrical events and deliver a rich overview of the development of variety shows, also in relation to traditional dramaturgy.