Studying Performing Arts and Theatre Nature in Italy. Historiographic Approaches and Mapping Attempts

In recent decades, the growing interest in performing arts in relation to natural spaces has stimulated new methodological and historiographic perspectives. This study proposes a theoretical framework for analysing performing arts and theatre in nature in Italy, intertwining historical and transdisciplinary approaches that combine performance studies, environmental humanities, and ecological performance studies. The investigation develops through a critical comparison between theatre and landscape, exploring how the performativity of space influences creative processes. In analysing pioneers such as Giuliano Scabia and early theatre-in-nature companies like O Thiasos TeatroNatura, founded by Sista Bramini, the study seeks to merge this transdisciplinary background with historiographic research, aiming to establish an epistemology capable of rethinking and reorienting traditional categories of theatre studies. Finally, the article presents a mapping of the main Italian theatre-in-nature realities, with a particular focus on their territorial distribution, production models, and sustainability practices. The mapping serves as a critical tool to understand the network dynamics between companies, festivals, and artistic residencies, contributing to an evolving resource for the study of performing arts in nature in Italy.