Educational Theatre for Women in Post-World War II Italy

Daniela Cavallaro is Senior Lecturer in Italian at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where she teaches courses in Italian language, fiction, and drama. She has published in the fields of Italian fiction, film and theatre; women’s revision of the classics; and South Pacific literature. Her 2011 book Italian Women’s Theatre 1930-1960: An Anthology of Plays recovered the life and works of four Italian women playwrights.

“The book explores the guiding principles and practices of all-women Catholic educational theatre from 1946 to the late 1960s, and surveys educational plays for all-women casts, analyzing their genres, content, and the publications in which they appeared. … Historians of Italy and theatre, feminist scholars, and those interested in women playwrights, educational theatre, and post-Fascist Italy will surely find Cavallaro’s book thoroughly engaging.” (Francesca Spedalieri, Annali d’italianistica, Vol. 35, 2017)Translated from Italian:“For the originality of the sources considered, the relevance of its topic and the methodological precision of its analysis, Educational Theatre for Women in Post-World War II Italy offers a contribution of great interest for the social and cultural history of Italy in the post-war years, as well as for theatre studies and gender studies.” (Laetitia Dumont-Lewi, Spunti e ricerche, Vol. 32, 2017)

• Introduction. Theatre is a serious matter.- Chapter 1. Educational theatre for women.- Chapter 2. Teatro delle giovani - editors, genres, development.- Chapter 3. Teatro delle giovani -  the plays.- Chapter 4. Salesian plays not published in Teatro delle giovani.- Chapter 5. Scene femminili - the new magazine for all-women theatre.- Chapter 6. Scene femminili - the plays.- Chapter 7. Educational plays from other magazines or publishers.- Chapter 8. The legacy of all-women educational theatre.- Appendix. Biographical notes on educational theatre women playwrights (1940-1970).- Works cited.