Avant-garde actresses and feminist theatre in Rome in the 1970s: new stages and new forms of expression

This essay is based on one of the ORMETE (Oralità Memoria Teatro: www.ormete.net) projects: Donne di teatro a Roma ai tempi della mobilitazione femminista (1965-1985). The research shows the inter-relations between the feminist movement and the actresses of the avant-garde scene in Rome. The focus of each of the women’s personal narrations is characterised by its strong and definite feminist or anti-conformist identity and by its determination to channel its own imagery in the experimental scene of the avant-garde. Many of the women gathered in feminist companies or joined collective groups; some ventured the road of dramaturgy, while still others dared more alternative, experimental kinds of solo performances. This text sheds light on a variety of alternative spaces for performances in Rome. It is there where these new forms of theatrical expressions were born.