Eleonora Duse. The History and Illustrations of a Theatrical Revolution

The book by Mirella Skino about Eleonora Duse (1859–1924) is the result of many years of meticulous research, covering not only the life and work of the great actress but also the general state of Italian theater in her era. Around the world, the artistic elite of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – from Sarah Bernhardt, D’Annunzio, L. Pirandello, E. G. Craig to A. Chekhov, V. Meyerhold, and K. Stanislavsky – admired Duse's talent. However, it is only now, with today's temporal distance, that we can confidently speak of her true genius: Duse not only anticipated but also defined the trends of development and formation of theatrical art for a century ahead. This also applied to dramaturgy, as the actress's attention in her mature creative period focused on the plays of D’Annunzio, M. Maeterlinck, and H. Ibsen. Duse toured Russia multiple times (1891–1892, 1908), her performances were a tremendous success, and I. Repin painted a portrait of the actress. The world mourned Duse's passing, with mourning ceremonies accompanied by huge crowds both in America and Italy. Mirella Skino is a theater scholar and professor at the Third University of Rome.