Futurist Dramatic Theory: The Early Manifestos

Abstract In 1909/ro, the Futurists found themselves in a situation where a theatrical reform and the creation of a new type of drama required a radical change in all aspects of theatrical production: from the function of theatre in society to audience expectations, from the form of plays to their mise-en-sci:ne, from acting to scenography. It is to the merit of the Futurists that they confronted all these problems and produced many original suggestions as to how the grave deficiencies of the theatre of their time could be remedied. Understandably, they were not able to try out all of their theories on stage; and when they did have a chance to put their ideas to a test, not all of these experiments were successful. But throughout the first ten years of the movement ‘s existence the Futurists made conscious efforts to free themselves from the conventions and rules of traditional theatre. They sought to rely on their own inventiveness and to create alternative models to the theatrical practice of their time. Early Futurist acting theory, for example, had nothing in common with any of the existing performance styles, but was entirely derived from Marinetti ‘s own experience as a declaimer. Similarly, early Futurist drama, the sintesi, did not follow the established patterns of short one-act dramas, but was a combination of experiments made during the serate and of attempts to capture modern life in brief, condensed forms of theatre.