National Theatre and Dialect Theatre

The Case of A Milanese at Sea by Cletto Arrighi

Abstract

In 1870, Cletto Arrighi founded the Teatro Milanese, where comedies and operettas were performed in the city’s dialect. Arrighi’s intention was clear: he did not aim to oppose theatre — or literature more broadly — in the Italian language, but rather to stand alongside it, with the goal of bringing to the stage the authentic reality of its speakers. A telling example of this aim is the operetta-vaudeville On milanes in mar, written not in Milanese dialect alone, but in a blend of dialects (Milanese, Genoese, Venetian, Neapolitan) designed to represent the reality of an Italy that was politically unified, yet still linguistically divided. This contribution intends to begin from the earliest version of On milanes in mar for which we have reliable witnesses — namely the one staged in 1874 — and then offer a comparison with several later versions, which underwent stronger nationalisation due to the great success the operetta enjoyed, not only in Milan but also in other theatres across the Peninsula.