Original scientific paper
La fine di Ludro: The Dramaturgy of Giuseppe Sabalich
Ana Bukvić
; University of Zadar
Abstract
Giuseppe Sabalich (Zadar, 1856-Zadar, 1928) was
the most prolific writer in Zadar at the turn of the
twentieth century. A renowned historian, storyteller,
poet, and writer, he distinguished himself with an
extensive oeuvre of comedies, dramas, monologues,
scenic sketches, and one-act plays, writing from 1879
until his death in 1928. This paper presents and analyses
Sabalich’s drama La fine di Ludro, published in
the periodical Zara in 1891. It is a drama in two acts
with the well-known Italian character actor Antonio
Papadopoli (1815-1899) as the protagonist. A
brief introduction to the life and work of Giuseppe
Sabalich and Antonio Papadopoli is followed by the
analysis of the aforementioned drama, which is central
to this paper. Apart from the typical features of
Giuseppe Sabalich’s dramaturgy that emerged from
the analysis, such as the use of dialect, the Venetian
setting, the positive images of Venice, and the historical
references, it shows that he wrote the texts for
famous actors. Furthermore, the paper points out
the divergent traits, which make La fine di Ludro a
unique piece in his oeuvre, manifested in the merging
of the two identities: the Zadar and the Venetian
one, as well as in the metatheatrical element. In the
analysis of La fine di Ludro, we trace Papadopoli’s biographical
cues that, on the one hand, confirm Papadopoli’s
Adriatic identity and, on the other, indicate
that Giuseppe Sabalich was a man of theatre whose
work was deeply rooted in the historical and social
context of his time.
Keywords
Giuseppe Sabalich, La fine di Ludro, Antonio Papadopoli, Zadar, Venice
Hrčak ID:
306391
URI
Publication date:
24.7.2023.
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