The Project

Text on Stage is a digital scholarly edition conceived as a proof of concept for modelling dramatic texts in a digital environment.

Dramatic works present specific editorial challenges: they are transmitted as written documents, yet conceived for performance. Traditional editorial approaches tend to privilege either textual transmission or staging practices, often treating performance as contextual or ancillary to the text.

This project proposes a relational editorial model in which textual transmission and performance are addressed as distinct but interconnected dimensions of the same editorial process. Textual witnesses are treated through structured genetic encoding, while performance-related materials are integrated as independent documentary entities, formally linked to the text within a unified digital framework.

Developed as a proof of concept, Text on Stage aims to test the applicability of this editorial model in a controlled environment, making explicit the methodological assumptions underlying the digital representation of dramatic works.

While the current implementation is necessarily limited in scope, the project is designed to be adaptable to other dramatic texts and editorial contexts, and to contribute to ongoing discussions on the role of digital methods in the editing and interpretation of theatre.

The Case Study: Capitano Ulisse

Capitano Ulisse represents a particularly suitable case study for testing a relational editorial model for dramatic texts. Beyond its relatively linear textual transmission, the play stands out for its strong scenic identity, which makes it an especially meaningful example for exploring the relationship between text and performance.

Written in the mid-1920s, the work is preserved through an autograph manuscript characterised by successive phases of authorial revision, followed by intermediary typescripts and a first printed edition published in 1934. From a philological perspective, this transmission is relatively straightforward, allowing the project to focus on processes of revision and stabilisation without the added complexity of highly fragmented traditions.

Beyond its philological features, Capitano Ulisse was also selected for symbolic reasons. Its editorial and performative trajectory is atypical when compared to that of many dramatic texts. Although the play was conceived with a strong scenic identity and in view of an early stage production, this production did not take place at the time of writing. As a result, the work remained confined to its textual form for several years and was published in its first printed edition before any staging occurred. This shift is reflected not only in the material transmission of the text but also at a paratextual level, most notably in the change of title from Capitan Ulisse in the manuscript to Capitano Ulisse in the typescript and printed edition.

Within the digital edition, this transition is made visible through the graphic presentation of the title, which mirrors the movement from manuscript to print. By foregrounding this change, the project highlights how textual stabilisation and performative delay shaped the identity of the work.

In this way, the case study serves both a methodological and a symbolic purpose: it provides a controlled corpus for testing a relational editorial model, while also allowing the text to be reconnected, editorially and visually, to its theatrical dimension.

The Author

Alberto Savinio (1891–1952) occupies a distinctive position within twentieth-century European culture as a writer, painter, musician, and intellectual. His theatrical production reflects this hybrid artistic identity, combining literary experimentation with a strong visual and performative imagination.

Savinio’s plays are conceived not merely as written texts but as projects oriented toward the stage, in which scenic space, gesture, and visual composition play a central role. This attention to the performative dimension makes his theatre particularly relevant for editorial approaches that seek to address the relationship between textual transmission and staging.

From an editorial perspective, Savinio’s work offers a valuable context for examining how authorial revision, textual stabilisation, and performance interact across different media and historical moments.