I luoghi del teatro LGBT nell’Italia del Novecento

The history of LGBTQ drama in Italy follows a pattern quite similar to that in other countries of the Western world. In the half of the XX century, mainstream theatres performed translations of plays that were already successful abroad and caused scandals. From the sixties onwards, we can expect a slow emergence of characters and stories by Italian authors in which the theme was the object of human and social reflection, even if it was usually controversial and often presented in derogatory terms. Later, in the seventies, a more politically oriented drama emerged, directly related to the growth of the gay and lesbian liberation movement in the country. Since then, and along the eighties, there has been a new generation of artists using the identity perspective as a tool of analysis, as well as the proliferation of discourses on homosexuality and transsexuality in the various genres and forms of live entertainment. This history can also be told by tracing the spaces in which LGBTQ drama was produced and distributed, and also by defining the elements that mark its correspondence with the development of experimental theatre and performance. While the first homosexual characters appeared on the stages of established theatres performed by leading companies in major cities across the country, later small groups of activists and small theatre companies found their way to general audiences in public spaces, political manifestations and newly created theatre venues. Later, from the nineties onwards, this stream of openly LGBTQ drama was reconnected to the official production circuit and settled in theatre seasons and festivals.