Luigi Squarzina

Born Feb. 18, 1922, in Leghorn. Italian stage director and playwright.

Squarzina graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome in 1946. In 1952, together with V. Gassman, he organized and headed the Italian Art Theater in Rome; his production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the theater placed him among Italy’s leading stage directors. Squarzina staged performances in various drama and opera theaters, including the Teatro Stabile in Genoa, where he has been co-manager with I. Chiesa since 1962, La Scala in Milan, and the Rome Opera. In addition to plays by C. Goldoni, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, and L. Pirandello, he has also introduced plays of progressive contemporary foreign and Italian authors into the repertoire.

Squarzina wrote his first play in 1948. A participant in the Resistance Movement, he attacked fascism with intense political fervor in the plays Three Quarters of the Moon (1953), Her Role in History (1955), Girl From Romagna (1957), Five Days at Port (1968, with V. Faggi), and September 8 (1972, with E. de Bernart and R. Zangrandi).