In this seminar Dr Cristina Mauceri will explore the relationships between Italians and foreigners in two productions by the Teatro della Albe in Ravenna, the first Italian company to start a collaboration with African migrants at the end of the 80s, paving the way to the new phenomenon of the crosscultural theatre.
In the first part of the presentation Dr Mauceri will illustrates the poetics of the Albe, characterized by what Marco Martinelli, the director of the company, defined “artistic metissage”.
In the second part she will analyse Ruh. Romagna + Africa, uguale and I Refrattari, showing how in these provocative plays the Albe adopt strategies such as irony, role reversal and parody, typical of postcolonial discourse, to unmask and deconstruct Italian stereotypes of Black people.

Maria Cristina Mauceri, Cassamarca Lecturer in the Department of Italian Studies of the University of Sydney until June 2015, is now Honorary Associate in the same Department.