Cristina Grazioli

Cristina Grazioli, Professor at the University of Padua, teaches History and Aesthetics of Stage Lighting and Puppet Theatre: History and Aesthetics. Her research focuses on the relationship between theatre and the visual arts, early 20th-century German theatre, the history and poetics of puppetry, and theatrical lighting. She directed the projects Atlante Fortuny and Dire Luce projects. Words and objects that light up the stage (www.sciami.direluce.com). Together with Véronique Perruchon, she directs Lumière de Spectacle at the CEAC, Centre d’étude des Arts Contemporains, University of Lille. She has been a Visiting Professor at various universities in Brazil and France. She is a member of several national and international scientific committees.

The project 

Title: Transparency, spherical dimension and natural light in Performing Arts

"Interest in the category of transparency stems from early research into the history of theatrical lighting from the Renaissance through the centuries up to the twentieth century (Grazioli, 2008). To simplify, the notions involved include: clarity, truth, immediacy; deception, filtering, mediation. All these concepts are particularly significant when applied to the performative event, to theatre, and to live representation. They are concepts inextricably linked to another equally complex term that forms an integral part of the history of theatrical vision, namely illusion, which is itself ambivalent. In summary, the meanings of Transparency that are of particular interest to us are essentially: I) the function of transparency in glass architecture; II) devices that both connect and separate; III) moments of interaction between interior and exterior space; IV) closely related to the previous points, the motif of “sharing” in theatre, made possible by a space jointly occupied by stage and auditorium through not only architectural elements but also the use and design of light. While a tendency toward transparency in architecture was influenced by the models of glasshouses developed in England, a decisive moment was represented by the architecture of the great Universal Expositions, as well as by the engineering of railway stations and other public buildings, in which the French context played a crucial role. In this case as well, on the one hand, relationships with the German context will be explored in greater depth; on the other, an attempt will be made to confirm the hypothesis of a connection with conceptions of theatrical space (as has already been demonstrated for the German context; see, for example, Grazioli 2023, Grazioli 2025). Within this framework, the category of Transparency will be investigated in relation to the concepts of sphericality, Natural Light, and Botanical Theatres."

Hosting institution: Centre d’étude des arts contemporains (CEAC), (ULR3587), Université de Lille, Programme Lumière de spectacle, Lille. 

Selective Bibliography

• C. Grazioli, A. Palermo, V. Perruchon, (a cura di), Lumière Matière. Variations et perspectives, Lille, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2025
• Cristina Grazioli, Pasquale Mari, Dire Luce. Riflessioni a due voci sulla luce in scena, Imola, CuePress, 2021
• Cristina Grazioli, Luce e ombra. Storia, teorie e pratiche dell’illuminazione teatrale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008
• Cristina Grazioli, Lo specchio grottesco. Marionette e automi nel teatro tedesco del primo Novecento, Padova, Esedra, 1999
• C. Grazioli, Sentire luce numero monografico di « Sciami | Ricerche », n. 9, 2021
• La scena di Mariano Fortuny. Atti del convegno internazionale di studi, (a cura di C. Grazioli et al.), Roma, Bulzoni, 2017