Ortensio Scammacca (1562?-1648) and the Jesuit Theatre. A Critical Edition of Il Tommaso in Londra

Ortensio Scammacca (1562?-1648) and the Jesuit Theatre. A critical edition of Il Tommaso in Londra Ziba Ahmadian Doctor of Philosophy Italian Studies Department University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This thesis is a critical edition of Il Tommaso in Londra, a tragedy by Jesuit Father Ortensio Scammacca (Lentini 1562?-Palermo 1648). The play is contained within the twelfth edition of Tragedie sacre e morali (Palermo: Decio Cirillo, 1648). The purpose of the study is to expose Scammacca’s dramaturgical contribution to Jesuit and post-Tridentine theatre by thoroughly analyzing Il Tommaso in Londra. An excursus on the evolution of sacred drama from its origins to the theatre of the Jesuits elucidates the historical and poetic aspects of sacred tragedy as a theatrical genre. A historical review delves into the politico-cultural mood of sixteenth and seventeenth century Italy with regards to the Protestant Reformation. The socio-religious circumstances of Sicily, as well as the regulations imposed on the representations are also evaluated. Additionally, a lengthy discussion of the Ratio Studiorum (1599) and the Spiritual Exercises explores the declamations as a significant pedagogical method of the Jesuits, and opens the debate on Scammacca’s theatre. Care is taken that the poet’s motivation to compose a tragedy based on Thomas Becket’s life does not go unnoticed. The study of Il Tommaso in Londra ends with an extensive philological note. Scammacca's tragedies have previously been studied and evaluated by scholars such as D’Agata and Donzelli. Nevertheless, this assessment of Il Tommaso in Londra reveals the profoundness, richness, and deliberate artifice of Father Scammacca's dramas in view of the Counter-Reformation spirit. The study discloses a remarkably integrated historical play, and recognizes the poet as the most prominent playwright of the era.Ph