Le tre prime de Il Ferro
abstract
The first staging in Italy of the drama Il ferro by Gabriele d’Annunzio, in January 1914, took place in production circumstances that were very peculiar and unique for the theatre scene of the time. Indeed, after the performance of the French version in December 1913 in Paris, with the title Le Chèvrefeuille, d’Annunzio’s theatrical text needed a major publicity launch. And, indeed, there is no doubt that its organisational process was quite bizarre. Preceded by long negotiations with the impresario Adolfo Re Riccardi, the composition of this text, not among Vate’s luckiest one, was certainly late compared to the backer’s expectations. Especially, the precedence given to the French version, which can be considered different, set in motion the will to create an event for the best of the audience attracted by the idea of assisting to the world première of a new text by d’Annunzio. On the evening of Tuesday the 27th of January Il ferro was staged in Rome, at the Teatro Valle and in Turin at the Teatro Carignano, while in Milan it took place at the Teatro Manzoni on the day after, Wednesday the 28th of January. The press described these evenings enthusiastically appreciating especially the actors’ performance, among the best in Italy: in Rome it was the Company of Ugo Piperno and Lyda Borelli with Teresa Mariani; in Turin Virginia Reiter, Nera Carini and Luigi Carini; in Milan Tina di Lorenzo, Emilia Varini and Febo Mari.
Keywords: Actor • Acting • Publicity launch • Theatre • Theatre production