Quotidiani Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

“La Cronaca Prealpina” and the theatre in Varese (1926-1948) with a documentation appendix: The ‘sad case’ of the open-air theatre at the Public Gardens. Documents about theatre from the Prefect’s Office in the State Archives of Varese
“La Cronaca Prealpina” is taken as a possible source to get an insight of the playand, more generally, show-related events and activities in Varese during the period 1926-1948. By sampling through some late spring performance news, what emerges is a kaleidoscope involving both indoors theatres and open-air shows; both professional celebrities and more naïve, though not talentless, amateurs; both permanent, traditional halls and travelling, alternative performances.
On the eve of the raising of Varese to the rank of capital of a province, 1926 is marked, from a theatrical point of view, by a quite diversified range of scenes, though the Teatro Sociale holds supremacy among them for its tradition and capacity.
In late May, it is included in the tour of Angelo Musco’s renowned Sicilian dialect company of players, but it is also the setting of a merely philanthropic show, aimed at found-raising for elementary schools, an event which will for long recur in this period of the year.
In early June 1928 the main event in town is the recital of the internationally illustrious sisters Irma and Emma Gramatica, while the local travelling company of the Rame family brings its popular repertoire all around the district.
1938 marks the closure of the Teatro Sociale, after an unsuccessful attempt to make it safe according to the law and much debate, often supported by journalist Giovanni Bagaini and the cultural club acting within the Taverna Artistica.
A cornerstone element in the entertainment and leisure sphere of Fascist Italy is the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, an institution organizing workers’ free-time activities, which in Varese is noticeably active and forceful. Between May and June 1938, the province sends one of its OND amateur theatrical companies to the annual national competition held in Naples, with very good results. Another typical OND initiative is the Carri di Tespi, cheap but complex theatrical structures, motorized and travelling. After an initial, almost experimental season in 1937, the following year the provincial Carro of Varese starts its summer tour, scheduling 36 shows.
From late spring articles for 1948, another travelling, performing ceremony comes out, although spectacular elements in it are only oriented to devotional, and political, aims: the Peregrinatio Mariæ, a multi-station procession of a statue of the Madonna, accompanied by songs, torch-lights, paper flower decorations, and festoons.
In the meantime, in the new indoor playhouse, the Impero, an operetta company decently tries to revive a beloved yet worn-out genre, doomed to give way to the rising success of cinema.
In the appendix, a set of documents illustrates the short experience (June 1938 - May 1939) of a cinema-playhouse installed at the Estensi public gardens of Varese by a private entrepreneur.