Luigi Chiarelli (7 July 1880 – 20 December 1947) was an Italian people, Italian playwright, theatre critic, and writer of short stories who is chiefly known as a founder of the ''teatro grottesco'', or Theatre of the Grotesque, after the subtitle of one of his plays.

Life

He was born in 1880 in Trani, Apulia, Trani and attended university, but abandoned his studies to devote himself to journalism and criticism. The first of his plays to be produced in 1912 were ''Er gendarme'' ("The Policeman") and ''Una notte d'amore'' ("One night of Love"), followed in 1914 by ''Extra dry'' and in 1916 by ''La maschera e il volto'' ("The Mask and the Face: A Grotesque in Three Acts"), which he had written in 1913, and on which much of his reputation rests. It was praised by Antonio Gramsci in his magazine ''Avanti!'' (11 April 1917) for the insight it showed into the chasm between one's persona and one's true personality. It was revived in London in 1993. It was followed by ''La Scala di seta'' ("The Silken Ladder", 1917), ''Chimere'' ("Chimeras", 1920), ''La morte degli amanti'' ("The Lovers' Death", 1921), which was produced simultaneously in London, ''Fuochi d'artificio'' ("Fireworks", 1922), the radio play ''L'anello di Teodosio'' ("The Ring of Teodosio", 1929) and ''Un uomo da rifare'' ("A Man to Remake", 1932), among many others. His plays were produced throughout Europe and in America. He was a theatre critic for the newspaper ''Il corriere di Milano'' from 1923, and the rise of Fascism in Italy prompted a shift in his expressed opinions from a delight in innovation to a defensive emphasis on the authentically Italian qualities of Novecento Italiano, Novecento drama. A collection of stories, ''Karakè e altri racconti'', was published in 1944. He died in Rome in 1947.

Selected filmography

* ''The Knight of San Marco'' (1939) * ''Luisa Sanfelice (1942 film), Luisa Sanfelice'' (1942)

External links

*
List of his plays
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiarelli, Luigi Italian dramatists and playwrights Grotesque Italian male short story writers Italian literary critics Italian male journalists 1880 births 1947 deaths People from Trani Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian short story writers 20th-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian journalists