Maria Ida Biggi

Il Teatro di Pierluigi Samaritani. Catalogo dell’Archivio conservato alla Fondazione Giorgio Cini di Venezia

Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 2015

Following Simona Marchini’s donation of the Pierluigi Samaritani Archive and the production of an inventory of the material in it, the Theatre Studies Centre has published a monograph exploring the art of the Piedmont stage designer.

Samaritani was the last Italian exponent of painted stage sets and his work offers fascinating insights into the history of theatre in the second half of the 20th century. In addition to his designs for the principal Italian theatres and festivals, Samaritani worked for leading international opera houses and his was style was highly successful in major theatres in Europe and North and South America.

The archive consists of a large quantity and great variety of documents: over 400 designs for sets, costume designs, a large photographic collection, his library and a vast catalogue of technical drawings and study documents of various kinds.