Italian Women's Theatre, 1930-1960

An anthology of plays

Daniela Cavallaro, Daniela Cavallaro

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781841506081
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Performing Arts

Between 1930 and 1960, popular female dramatists, including Paola Riccora, Anna Bonacci, Clotilde Masci, and Gici Ganzini Granata, set the stage for a new generation of feminist theatre and the development of contemporary Italian women's theatre as a whole. Now largely forgotten, the lives and works of these dramatists are reintroduced into the scholarly conversation in Italian Women's Theatre, 1930–1960. Following a general introduction, the book presents a selection of dramatic works, rounded out by commentary, performance histories, critical analyses, and biographical information.

Chapter 1

Paola Riccora

Introducing three collected plays by Paola Riccora, the Neapolitan playwright Roberto Bracco wrote: “The number of creative women goes in descending order: poets, novelists, painters, sculptors, musicians, and playwrights. The percentage of playwrights is minimal, so small that you probably couldn't quite measure it” (1930: iii). With these words Bracco underlined the exceptionality of Paola Riccora, pseudonym of Emilia Vaglio Capriolo, who in 1930 had already successfully staged a number of theatrical adaptations from French comedies, as well as original plays.

From Emilia Vaglio to Paola Riccora

Born on 23 October 1884 in Naples in an upper-middle-class family, Emilia Vaglio attended elementary school and later received private tuition at home. In an autobiographical note of 1955, she claimed that in her youth she did not write “a single sonnet or short story, not even the typical puppet play which often marks the home debut of a playwright”. She did, however, have a “great passion for theatre” (1955a: vii), which led her to act in teenage amateur performances organized in her home (Paliotti 1984: 37). At the age of twenty she married Caro Capriolo, a lawyer working in theatre contracts. They had two children, Gino (1905-1957) and Renata (1909-1994).¹

Several conflicting versions exist of the story of how this bourgeois wife and mother became a successful playwright. The most recent articles on Riccora, published after her death, are based on the memories of her daughter, Renata, who connects the birth and development of her mother's theatrical career to her father's profession, her father's absence and her mother's love for her children.

Renata remembered how her father's clients had included celebrities such as the world-famous actress Eleonora Duse, which meant frequent invitations to attend theatrical performances in the major Neapolitan theatres. Returning from the theatre, Emilia Vaglio would appear “positively glowing” as she kissed her children goodnight (Paliotti 1980: 38). In 1915, when Italy entered the First World War and her husband was drafted into the army, the woman who was still called Emilia Vaglio Capriolo had to take on the responsibility of supporting her family. Renata asserted that her mother would do her best to provide for the children, sewing their clothes and even making them shoes. When she realized that she needed to find paid work, she went to see her husband's former associate, the director of the Teatro Nuovo, Eugenio Aulicino. The only work he could offer was the translation and adaptation of French pochades for the Neapolitan stage, which she accepted. And thus began Signora Vaglio Capriolo's double life of housewife by day and playwright by night (Paliotti 1984: 39).

Although Riccora's choice of occupation – adapting French farces for the stage of her native city Naples – was unusual, in her need to find work for the first time she was similar to many other Italian women. Abandoned by the men, who had been drafted into the war, the country needed a workforce in the factories, fields and offices, and women became the main providers for their families. From the experience of having to look after themselves, without a male figure, and collaborate with other women, however, they emerged from the war years more aware and responsible, conquering “spaces never before known, even in terms of personal autonomy” (Cutrufelli et al. 2001: xi). Paola Riccora, for example, did not give up her theatrical activity after her husband’s return from war; on the contrary, she decided to leave adaptations and begin creating original plays.

The author herself, however, in the 1955 note, did not talk about the war or family necessities to explain her foray into theatre. Rather, she mentioned “destiny” and the “fortuitous case” by which she decided one day to become Paola Riccora, trying her “still very fragile hands” at adapting a foreign play for the Neapolitan stage (1955a: vii-viii). “Where, in what hidden ancestral caches”, the author wondered, “in what locked and unconscious instincts did I find the insight, the skills, the adapting expertise, the logic and techniques necessary for that unexpected task? To this day I still do not know” (1955a: viii). In an article published in 1975, one year before her death, Riccora gave a third version of her debut as a playwright declaring that it happened “almost as a game” in January 1914, when she bet her husband that she would be able to quickly adapt Vingt jours a Vombre [Twenty days in the shade], by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber. She won the bet (Ravel 1975).

The result, presented under the male pseudonym of Paolo Riccora, an anagram of her husband's name, was the comedy Nu mese ‘ofrisco [A month in the shade], which obtained considerable success at its premiere in 1916, and is still often staged by Italian and Neapolitan companies.² The play's title is a pun on the protagonist's month-long holiday in the mountains while supposedly spending thirty days in jail.

Riccora went on to adapt more than sixty plays in the years that followed. Particularly successful were La presidentessa [The president's wife] based on the 1913 comedy La présidente [The president's wife] by Hennequin and Veber, and È arrivato l'accordatore [The piano tuner has arrived], based on another of Veber's plays, Gonzague, staged in 1918 by the famous comedian Ettore Petrolini (1884-1936) and made into a film in 1952.³ But for obvious reasons she would never respond to the audience calls for the author at the end of the plays, until a newspaper column finally revealed that Paolo Riccora was, in fact “the very kind, intelligent, and cultivated Signora Emilia Capriolo” (Varanese 1998: 11).⁴ After that public revelation, the author changed the first part of her pseudonym to the female form and began to sign her works as “Paola Riccora”.

Several reasons are also given for Riccora’s move from adapting from the French to creating original theatrical works. According to daughter Renata, after returning from the war Caro Capriolo claimed that his wife had been able to adapt existing works, but would not be able to create a new play. Riccora accepted the challenge and created her first original comedy in Neapolitan, Viate a vvuie [Lucky you], for the Ernesto Murolo company, staged in 1919 (Paliotti 1984: 41). It is the story of a happy couple, whose lives are destroyed because of the envy of all, until finally they decide to move abroad and start anew. The play was praised by reviewers not so much for its plot but rather for its lively portrayal of the Neapolitan lower-middle class. Critics praised the author’s “vivacity, movement, grace and Neapolitan flavour”, “great theatrical expertise; confident and well-measured art” and “faithful painting of feelings and passions” (Anon. 1921: 55-57). The noted critic Adriano Tilgher – best known for his views on Pirandello's theatre – concluded his review by inviting Paola Riccora to continue her dramatic career, “for which she ha[d] shown such favourable and exceptional aptitude” (Anon. 1921: 56) in this, her first original play.

Paola Riccora at her writing desk, in the early 1950s. Courtesy of Eredi Riccora.

In 1935 Riccora labelled a different play, Nevicata d'aprile [April snowfall], as her first original work. Again she explained that she wrote it “as a joke, a bet” with her husband (1935:2). On the other hand, in her autobiographical note of 1955, after mentioning her sixty-five successful adaptations, Riccora does not mention her husband at all or any bet to explain her new career as playwright. Rather, she stresses her self-confidence, and her aspiration to create something “more original and of greater breadth” (1955a: viii). Again she cites as her first original vernacular creation Nevicata d'aprile and stresses its difference from the previous adaptations as it contains, instead of laughter, “a gentle smile and some soft tears” (1955a: viii). The story of an innocent love in the foreground of the Italian independence movements of 1848, the “clean, well-mannered […], meek, sweet, modest” play – to use Riccora's words – contrasted strikingly with the farcical and salacious situations of the adaptations from French theatre (1955a: viii), although like many of them it exploited the technique of dressing up and the humour created by mistaken identities. Written for the famous actor Ermete Novelli (1851-1919), who died before he could stage it, Nevicata d'aprile was then performed in 1920 by Ugo Farulli.

The contrast between the farcical tone of the adaptations and Riccora’s more sentimental original creations was such that for a while many reviewers believed that they were penned by different authors. The reviewer of L'ora, for example, positively commenting on the drama Nonna nonna! [Lullaby], authored by Riccora with Carlo de Flaviis, warned readers not to confuse her with the almost homonymous Paolo Riccora, whose brilliant adaptations were triumphant on stages all over Italy. Paolina Riccora, the reviewer concluded, is a kind woman writer, whose artistic sensibility does not adapt, but creates (Anon. 1920: 24).⁵

The portrayal of middle-class Neapolitan characters remained at the centre of Riccora’s major plays throughout the following decade. The protagonists of the comedy Se tu non m'ami [If you don't love me] of 1924 are Arturo Saldini and his wife, Bice, whose obsessive jealousy and threats of suicide compromise the couple's life. The play ends happily on Bice's request for forgiveness.⁶ Much different in tone is Mater purissima [Most pure mother] of 1928, based on the story “La morsa” [The grip], by Roberto Bracco. Maria's husband, Alberto, is tormented by his unspoken, but reciprocated love for his sister-in-law Matilde. After Alberto's death, Maria's suspicions about her sister are raised when Matilde refuses to marry an old suitor. In order to save the peace of mind of her two daughters, their mother falsely confesses to having once been Matilde’s suitor’s lover. The drama ends on the unrecognized sacrifice of this most pure mother of the title.

The comedies for the de Filippos

There is no doubt, however, that a pivotal moment in Riccora's career was her encounter with the de Filippo siblings in 1932, as it brought her plays to greater national attention. Eduardo, Peppino and Titina de Filippo, after working in separate companies for several years, joined forces in 1931 under the name of “Compagnia Teatro Umor-istico i de Filippo” [The de Filippos’ Comedy Theatre Company]. For their company, Riccora wrote several plays: Sarà stato Giovannino, staged in 1933; Angelina mia! [My Angelina!], staged in 1934; La bottega dei santi [The saints’ workshop], staged in 1935; Lontananza [Distance], staged in 1936; and Io e te [Me and you], meant to be staged in 1937.

Paola Riccora with Peppino, Eduardo, and Titina de Filippo after the premiere of Angelina mia!,1934. Courtesy of Archivi di Teatro Napoli – Archivio Eduardo de Filippo.

Sarà stato Giovannino was the most successful of Riccora's plays for the de Filippo siblings, who kept it in their repertoire for several years. The company also had excellent reviews touring Italy with Riccora's Angelina mia!, a play which staged the conflict between two brothers (played by Eduardo and Peppino) in love with the same young woman, Angelina. Eduardo played the role of the elder, Giacomino Castellano, a man stingy with both money and the expression of his feelings. Nobody realizes that he loves Angelina, who gladly accepts the marriage proposal of Giacomino's brother Andrea, a kind and generous man, well-liked by everybody. Knowing that he will not be able to stand the sight of Angelina happily married to his brother, Giacomino has a serious falling out with Andrea on the wedding day, refusing him the money he had previously promised. When in Act 3, however, he realizes that Andrea, partly because of his generous nature, has lost all he has, and Angelina, who is now pregnant, would suffer the consequences, he has a change of heart, puts Andrea in charge of his business and decides to move to another city. Nobody but the audience realizes the depth of his love for Angelina and the extent of his sacrifice.

La bottega dei santi, based on Matilde Serao's 1904 novel Storia di due anime [Story of two souls], also staged a contrast, but this time between two female characters: Anna, a selfish, bourgeois young woman, and Gelsomina, a generous, lively poor girl. The protagonist, Domenico Maresca, is a wood artist who creates statues of saints. He neither notices the interest Gelsomina takes in him nor listens to the advice of his co-worker Andrea. Domenico is in love with Anna, his superior in both class and education, and marries her. She, however, is interested only in his money, and continues a relationship with her lover even after she is married. At the end of the play, when she plans to rob one of Domenico's richly decorated statues and escape with her lover, she is stopped by Gelsomina who, in the meantime, has become a prostitute, yet still wishes Domenico happiness. In this play as well, Gelsomina's intervention and love for Domenico receive recognition only from the audience, not from the protagonist.

After the less enthusiastic reviews received by this play, and the dissenting responses which Lontananza obtained at the Quirino Theatre in Rome in December 1936, the de Filippos decided not to stage Io e te, which Riccora had written for them. Gaining strength from their new collaboration with Luigi Pirandello, they started rehearsing L'abito nuovo [The new coat], which Eduardo had co-authored with the Sicilian playwright. At that point, Paola Riccora decided to give Io ete- the story of a couple always surrounded by parents or children, until in their old age they find themselves finally alone, but missing their children's company – to Dina Galli, who staged it in 1937. In an interview, Riccora returned to the “bitter memory” of the end of her collaboration with the de Filippos, recalling that “after a few nights at the Olimpia Theatre in Milan [with La bottega dei santi] and in spite of favourable audience responses, they did not want to continue: ‘Matilde Serao brings bad luck', they would say” (Ravel 1975). Critics, however, see the end of the collaboration as more due to the new direction of the de Filippos – now oriented towards Pirandello – than to any specific event or play. “The Teatro Umoristico’s route toward an authorial theatre” concludes Ottai, “no longer coincided with Paola Riccora, nor with her feminine ability to mediate with ‘good feelings’ the more recent tradition of Neapolitan comedy” (2002:106).

Riccora's later successes

At least two more of Riccora's plays of the late 1930s are worthy of mention: Fine mese [End of the month], written for Raffaele Viviani in 1937, and adapted into the films Giorno di nozze [Wedding day] in 1942 by Raffaello Matarazzo and Fin de mes [End of the month] in 1953 by Enrique Cahen Salaberry in Argentina; and Sera di pioggia [Rainy evening], of 1938. Both were highly successful in Italy, translated into Spanish, staged in Latin America and later broadcast on Italian national television.

Fine mese recounts the difficulties of a couple who barely manage to make it to the...