Maria Ida Biggi’s publication, entitled: La scena magica di Mischa Scandella, published as part of the activities of the Comitato nazionale per le celebrazioni del centenario della nascita di Mischa Scandella (‘National Committee for the Celebration of the Centenary of Mischa Scandella’s Birth’) (1921–2021), traces the scenographer’s artistic career.

Mario – known as ‘Mischa’ – Scandella (Venice, 1921 – Rome, 1983) was a Venetian set and costume designer of great talent and sensitivity. His artistic production, now collected in its entirety and presented to the public for the first time in this monograph, contributed to renewing the Italian stage of the second half of the twentieth century with his extravagant and daring contributions.

Trained in the cultural fervour of a post-war Venice, Scandella made his debut in the milieu of the university theatres of Venice and Padua, and soon afterwards came to the fore on a national level. Over the course of his long career, he worked alongside the great names of Italian theatre, including Gianfranco de Bosio, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Vittorio Gassman, Giovanni Poli, Guido Salvini and Giorgio Strehler. Thanks to the generosity of his son Giovanni, Mischa Scandella’s personal archive is now housed at the Institute of Theatre and Opera of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, which has been working on the history of the performing arts and that of set design for many years.