Novella
Tabili

Novella Tabili graduated in 1985 in Scenography from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. She made her debut in 1984, at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, with the sets for Ponchielli’s I Lituani. Subsequently, she designed the sets for productions at traditional opera houses and theatres: Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni; Nabucco and Un ballo in maschera by Verdi; L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti; Macbeth by Verdi; Andrea Chénier by Giordano; and The Barber of Seville by Rossini. During the same period, she also directed La traviata, Turandot and Aida. In 1998, at the Teatro S. Pedro in São Paulo, Brazil, she designed the set for Rossini’s La Cenerentola. In 2007, for the Opera Season at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina, she designed the sets for Adriana Lecouvreur by F. Cilea. From 1990 to 2016, she staged numerous operas for the Aurora Opera House in Malta, serving as stage director, set designer and costume designer: La Bohème (1990 and 2008), Il Trovatore (1993 and 2014), Carmen (1995, 2010 and 2016), Turandot (1996 and 2012), Fedora, La Traviata (1998 and 2015), Aida (1999 and 2009), La Forza del Destino, Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Tosca (2011), and Falstaff (2013). Since 1995, she has been a lecturer in Scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 2006, she gave a seminar at the Facultad de Bellas Artes in Seville on the topic of The Italian Stage. In collaboration with the Academy, she has worked on the creation of scenographies, research projects and artistic productions aimed at broadening the artistic experience of the Academy’s students.

THREE-YEAR COURSE – 12 CFA CREDITS

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
The course aims to train set designers capable of designing the stage space with a command of the relevant language and critical awareness. Defining set design is always reductive, but I would say that the stage is, above all, a place. A place where the stage action takes place, but also a mental place, a point of reference. The scene takes shape in the viewer’s mind. For the place of the scene to manifest itself in the stage space, it is necessary to devise a set design that is faithful to the text and adaptable to the action.
Throughout their studies, although encouraged to express themselves independently, students are supported at every stage leading up to the development of their set design project. The programme begins with a study of Italian-style theatre and progresses to an understanding of current staging practices. To this end, theatre attendance is encouraged in every possible way, and meetings with set designers, directors, actors and technicians are promoted, both on and off campus. While consolidating the practice of digital drawing and colouring, manual techniques of set design and painting are cultivated through exercises and projects. Students are encouraged to express their creativity and are placed in a continuous dialogue with contemporary staging practices.

CONTENT AND TOPICS
The lectures focus on a number of topics considered to be fundamental: in-depth reading of the text; research methodology; the study of set composition; the study of materials for set design; the relationship between set and costume; the relationship between set and lighting; and design.
Each year follows a specific programme, covering plays, themes and various aspects of staging. However, cross-cutting research, lectures and practical exercises are also organised across the three years, with the aim of focusing on recurring techniques and working practices that are specific to the profession of set designer (for example, in the context of work placements arranged in collaboration with the workshops of the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, preparatory exercises in the technique of set painting are carried out).
In general, the training activities – lectures, practical exercises and research – are organised into four areas:

1. The stage space: the different types and characteristics of active, ancient and contemporary theatres; drama theatre; musical theatre; the open-air stage; ancient theatres; contemporary theatre. Theatrical terminology.
2. Set design composition: the set design sketch, colour, material and the set, the set and costume, the set and lighting. Contemporary set designers.
3. The set design project: perspective, stage rendering, planning, the scale model, scene changes, props, and production management.
4. Artistic research: the locations of the stage, art and the stage, the evolution of stage aesthetics, contemporary staging.

CURRICULUM

FIRST YEAR
First-year students will be introduced to set design through a gradual approach, initially equipping them with the basic knowledge required to develop a proper set design project. They will initially undertake a series of preparatory exercises, then be trained in reading a play with a view to staging it, and finally, they will develop a set design for a play.
Semester 1. Preparatory exercises: drawing exercises, chiaroscuro and colour, the human figure, perspective exercises, application of research methods, impromptu creations; theoretical lectures: the stage space, the set design project, theatrical terminology, stage representation.
Term 2. Reading a play: Students will engage in a guided reading of a play assigned by the lecturer (script analysis); Development of a set design sketch: Students will create set design sketches and costume designs; Research and direct experience.

SECOND YEAR
The second-year programme aims to consolidate the skills acquired and to explore new design languages and methods.
Semester 1. Set design for a ballet. Through the study of set design for ballet, students develop the ability to express the relationship between the shape of the stage and the music; they consolidate their knowledge of the language of the Italian stage, with a particular focus on the set elements above the stage and the design of wings and perspective backdrops; they further explore the study of stage space (the space of the opera house); they study the technique of scene changes; and finally, they refine their research into costume and set design style. At the end of the project, students are required to create a scale model.
Term 2. Development of a set design for a play. Based on a text assigned by the lecturer, students create a set design project for the stage of the Teatro dell’Argentina. Preparatory exercises: students produce set design sketches on the spot based on a text assigned by the lecturer. Study of the Elizabethan stage space

THIRD YEAR
In their third year, students explore set design for musical theatre, also in light of the internships offered through the set design workshop at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. In the second semester, students are free to choose plays, set design themes and stage spaces.
First semester. Complete set design project for an opera or a musical, conceived for the stage of the Teatro Costanzi. A complete production design project is required, including costume sketches and studies for the set and props.
Semester 1. Development of a set design for a play of the student’s choice. A complete set design project is required, including a scale model and costume sketches. The set must be designed for one of the following theatres: Teatro Argentina, Teatro India, Teatro Vascello, or the Roman Theatre in Ostia Antica.
For the second and third years, each project must be accompanied by visual boards highlighting the stylistic and conceptual choices, and must conclude with a detailed list of the set design elements, including the material dimensions required for their construction. For the reading lists, lecture notes and teaching materials required for each year, please refer to the Teams platform, under the relevant classes for each year.

ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR THE FINAL EXAMINATION
The exam consists of a presentation of the set design projects completed during the academic year. A pre-exam on theatre terminology is scheduled for the first year. In addition, third-year students are required to create a portfolio (in digital format) featuring the set design works produced over the three-year period.

TWO-YEAR SPECIALIST COURSE IN THEATRE – 12 CFA CREDITS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The two-year course in Scenography for Theatre focuses on musical theatre. During the first year, which I teach, the staging of opera is addressed in great detail. This involves not only considering a generally larger stage space, but also learning about the musical requirements, the dynamics of production and realisation, the roles, the timing and the stage requirements specific to opera staging. This enables students to broaden their perspective on issues related to set design in the broadest sense, considering various aspects of the entire stage production, and to refine the techniques used to execute the set design project at every stage. In particular, stagecraft is explored in depth, from both a design and a workshop perspective.

CONTENT AND TOPICS
When developing their projects, students are guided to consider lighting technology and multimedia languages in relation to the available set design materials and experimental resources. Emphasis will be placed on the contributions of 20th-century artists to scenography. Students will be able to choose one of two proposed works to interpret.

EXAMINATION ASSESSMENT METHOD
The exam consists of the presentation of the set design project, complete in all its phases, namely:

• Project presentation boards (mood boards, concept boards, concept maps, and anything else useful for providing a concise understanding of the staging concept).
• Analytical reading of the libretto (using the musical score) summarised on a sheet.
• A3-format boards showing the complete sequence of scene changes, broken down by act.
• Set design sketches for each act in A3 format.
• Stage rendering with plans and sections.
• Development of the set design elements.
• Model.
• Costume designs for the characters, chorus, extras, and any dance troupe.
• Hairstyle designs.
• Comprehensive list of stage props, accompanied by studies and research drawings.
• Project specifications.

For the required reading list, lecture notes and teaching materials, please refer to the relevant Teams platform.

PLANNED RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC PRODUCTION TRAINING ACTIVITIES
The fruitful collaboration with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma continues. The best students, among those who are interested, will be referred to the set design workshops in Via dei Cerchi, where, under the excellent guidance of Danilo Mancini, they will be able to learn, in particular, the techniques of set painting and, more generally, the entire process of set design.

CORE READING LIST
Lori, Renato, Scenografia e scenotecnica per il teatro, Gremese, Rome, 2014. *
Mello, Bruno, Trattato di scenotecnica, Görlich, Milan, 1981. *
Buzzichelli, Piero, Elementi di spazio scenico, Nomenclatura teatrale, teatri e scenografie, Alinea Editrice, Florence, 2007.

FURTHER READING
Set design
Cerullo, Gilda, Cambi di scena, Dino Audino Editore, Rome, 2018.
Copelli, Gino, Manuale pratico di scenotecnica. Le macchine teatrali, Pàtron, 2006.
Various authors, edited by Silvio D’Amico, Enciclopedia dello spettacolo, Le Maschere, Rome; 1955–1965.
History of set design
Praz, Mario, La filosofia dell’arredamento, Longanesi, Milan, 1981. *
Costume
Bailleux, Natalie and Remaury, Bruno, La moda: usi e costumi del vestire, Universale Electa Gallimard.
Bignami, Paola, Storia del costume teatrale, Carrocci Editore, Rome, 2012. *
Levi Pisetzky, Rosita, Il costume e la moda nella società italiana, Einaudi, Turin, 1995.
History of Dance
Pontremoli, Alessandro, Storia della danza dal medioevo ai giorni nostri, Le lettere, Florence, 2002.
Lighting technology
Fabrizio Crisafulli, Luce Attiva, Titivillus, Pisa, 2007. *
Valentina Garavaglia, Lo spazio della luce, Unicopli, Milan, 2012.
Theatre culture and practice
Allegri, Luigi, Prima lezione sul teatro, Editori Laterza, Bari, 2019.
Fano, Nicola, Andare per TEATRI, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2016.
Luzzati, Emanuele and Conte, Tonino, Facciamo insieme teatro, Einaudi, Turin, 1997. *
Sembiante, Thessy, Professione Teatro, Gremese, Rome, 2010.