Mussolini's Theatre

Benito Mussolini has been persistently described as an actor: both 'merely' an actor and not a true, thinking politician - and as a master of illusions. In Mussolini's Theatre, Patricia Gaborik sets aside the metaphorical notions of Mussolini as an actor and instead tells the story of his life as a literal spectator, critic, impresario, dramatist, and censor of the stage. She recounts Mussolini's most significant theatrical influences, his relationships with a series of luminaries (Gabriele D'Annunzio and George Bernard Shaw chief among them), his oversight of stage censorship, and even his forays into playwriting to explore how the dictator's tastes and convictions shaped theatrical programming throughout fascist Italy. Bringing together history, biography, performance analysis, and aesthetic theory, the study shows how Mussolini's maneuverings in the theatre shed light on the nature and workings of Italian fascism as a whole.