From Ancient Fires to Modern Lights: A Traveller’s Guide to Theatre

A Complementary Guide to Theatre History for the Contemporary Actor

For a young creator at the beginning of an artistic journey, acting techniques alone are never enough. They provide discipline, and they cultivate the physical and psychological skills essential to the craft — but the true source of inspiration lies elsewhere. It grows from general culture, from the ability to understand the world, and from the deeper cultural knowledge specific to one’s artistic field.

Often, this knowledge is transmitted by specialists whose approach, while rigorous, may become overly technical or excessively academic. Their perspective can easily lead a young artist into a philological or scientific mindset — valuable in itself, yet not always aligned with the intuitive, imaginative nature of performance. A student remains, first and foremost, an artist. And sometimes an artist needs an artistic doorway into history.

This is why it felt natural for me to imagine a course shaped not by a scholar, but by an actor traveling through the world, searching for what a contemporary creator — not a scientist — might need: a synthetic, living map of the great artistic ages of humankind. The answers to fundamental questions can help a young actor build the mana, the “organic spiritual broth” from which the "skeletons" of characters and creations emerge.

What were the earliest theatre-like forms of expression in human history?

How did theatre function in ancient civilizations?

How was the actor perceived, trained, and transformed across different eras?

Who were the thinkers and playwrights who defined their age?

What was the relationship between artists and their audiences?

How did puppetry evolve?

How did scenography grow to support the actor’s presence?

And ultimately — where do we, today’s actors, grow from here?

If I understand my roots, I can imagine my branches — and perhaps even sense the scent of my future flowers.

During my travels, my professional curiosity naturally gravitated toward the art that remains, for me, the most expressive and complete: the world of theatre. Along the way, I gathered a significant archive of video and photographic material from the places I visited.

•     Athens – Theatre of Dionysus & Acropolis Museum and Archeology Museum

•   Rome – the exhibition TEATRO - AUTORI, ATTORI E PUBBLICO NELL`ANTICA ROMA at Museo dell`Ara Pacis and the Etruscan Museum

•    France – Musée Carnavalet & the troubadour castles of Languedoc

•    China – Beijing Opera at the Central Academy of Drama

•  Venice – Muzeo Mariano Fortuny Y Madrazo (Ca Fortuny) and Casa di Carlo Goldoni

•    London – National Gallery  and Tate Britain

These documents may serve young students who, due to time or circumstance, did not yet explore the world themselves. Some secrets of the craft are closely guarded; some places are difficult to reach. But images and stories can open doors.

These materials may inspire students to pursue their own research into a particular theatrical form that resonates with them. They may also encourage them to synthesize traditional elements from different cultures, creating new modes of expression aligned with their own philosophy of living and creating.

All of this has shaped a course of mine — a complementary journey through the history of theatre, enriched by personal experience and visual documentation. It explores themes such as:

• The emergence of theatre. Theatre in Ancient Greece

• Theatre in Ancient Rome. Italian Renaissance Theatre

• Theatre in the Middle Ages

• The Golden Age of Spanish Theatre

• English Renaissance Theatre

• Theatre during the French Classicism

• Theatre in Asia: China, India, and Japan. Beijing Opera

• European Theatre in the Age of Enlightenment

• The scarlet vest of Romanticism

• Realism in European Theatre

• European Theatre in the 20th Century

• American Theatre in the 20th Century. The Musical appears

• The stage behind the stage? Basic notions of scenography and costume

• Puppet Theatre: the fantasy, the sacred and Hoffman approach

• Theatre in your hoemtown

• Modern theatre legislation. The status of the actor

• Photography and theatre

• Theatre and film – sister arts

• The augmented actor and his virtual stage

This course does not replace a rigorous academic study of theatre history. Instead, it stands -beside it — a companion, a bridge, a tool that brings theoretical knowledge closer to the young actor’s imagination.

The course takes shape in three intertwined movements: an opening overview that sets the horizon, a visual journey supported by materials from my own archive, and an Akademos‑inspired circle of dialogue where teacher and students sit as equals — thinking together, questioning freely, dreaming boldly, and nourishing one another’s imagination.