Oidipus redivivus. Teatro Olimpico 1585

The first modern production of classical Greek tragedy was put on in Vicenza in 1585 in a then newly opened theatre, today known as Teatro Olimpico. The author of the building plan was Andrea Palladio, renowned architect who died before the construction of the theatre was finished. It was completed by Vicenzo Scamozzi, another famous Italian architect, who enhanced the stage by an illusionary decorative background. The completed theatre building, the architectonic plan of which was inspired by Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture, is a combination of classical Roman and Renaissance architectonic principles, representing an ideal image of Antiquity created by Palladio and Scamozzi’s fellows – a contemporary utopia projected into the past. The play chosen for the opening of the house, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, underlined the prestige of the institution, as well as of the whole city and its Academia. What can be learnt about the production from various contemporary resources is a subject of the present paper.

První zaznamenaná inscenace řecké tragédie v nové době se konala ve Vicenze v r. 1585, a to v nově otevřeném divadle (dnes známém jako Teatro Olimpico). Autorem stavby byl známý architekt Andrea Palladio, po jehož smrti ji dokončil Vicenzo Scamozzi, který Palladiův návrh obohatil o iluzivní dekoraci. Divadlo inspirované Vitruviovým spisem Deset knih o architektuře je jistou kombinací římských a renesančních architektonických principů, z nichž je utkán ideální obraz návratu k antice, této utopie promítnuté do minulosti. Titul zvolený ke slavnostnímu otevření divadla byl vybrán tak, aby podpořil prestiž divadla i Vicenzy a její Accademie.