Greci e avanguardia nella Seconda Riforma del teatro

In the 1960s, a theatrical reform that was in fact a radical revolution ‒ in the name of Nietzsche and Artaud too ‒, took place: Western theatre became aware of its weakness in terms of participation. Hence, the necessity of overcoming the idea of representation and transforming it into «a type of ritual or ceremony» (Ludwik Flaszen). The leaders of this theatrical tendency found a sort of elective affinity in Greek theatre’s forms, myths and archetypes. This essay analyses the evolution of this trend, from Jerzy Grotowski’s work on Orpheus (1960) to The Marriage of Medea (2008) by Odin Teatret and Eugenio Barba, with a survey of the most important classical based performances by Living Theater, Richard Schechner, Peter Brook and Ariane Mnouchkine.