The Theatre of the Grotesque, a dramatic movement in Italy from 1916 until 1930, grew directly out of Pirandello's concept of "umorismo," the painful laugh accompanying the tragic sense of bewilderment at the incongruities and cruelties of life. Growing first of all from a reaction against positivism and its theatrical counterpart,…

Bonaventure's symbols of the circle, centre, cross, and journey are analyzed from the perspective of the mandala, as it has been explored in the research of C.G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Guiseppe Tucci." Three photographs are included. (Author/SP)

In 1964, when the "living" theatre appeared to be dying in New York, theater in Italy began changing from an author-oriented to a performance-oriented, nonliterary form. The articles in this document trace the historical development of Italian theatre and analyze current dramas which demonstrate the diversity of approaches and the energy…