Diana Ponti

Diana Ponti, also known as Lavinia Ponti (d. circa 1615), was an Italian stage actress.

Ponti was the daughter of the actor Adriano Valerini. She was the managing actor-director (or capocomico) of the company I Desiosi, which was also called Diana Comica Dediosa after her.^[1]^[2] The exact years are not known but she is confirmed as such in 1585–1588 and would have retired as such prior to 1597, when Flaminio Scala is noted as manager. The position as manager of a company was not common in the 16th-century and she would have been a pioneer in Europe in this aspect. She enjoyed fame and popularity and was a well-noted actor of her day in contemporary Italy; she even performed at the marriage of Henri IV and his new queen, Marie de Medici.^[3] She was also active as a poet.

References

^ Rose, Margaret (2019), Sewell, Jan; Smout, Clare (eds.), "The First Italian Actresses, Isabella Andreini and the Commedia dell'Arte", The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 107–126, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-23828-5_6, ISBN 978-3-030-23828-5, retrieved 2024-05-30
^ Shapiro, Michael (2006-01-01), "The Introduction of Actresses in England: Delay or Defensiveness?", Transvestism and the Onnagata Traditions in Shakespeare and Kabuki, Brill, pp. 33–58, ISBN 978-90-04-21358-6, retrieved 2024-05-30
^ Brown, Pamela Allen (September 2016). "The Traveling Diva and Generic Innovation". Renaissance Drama. 44 (2): 249–267. doi:10.1086/688691. ISSN 0486-3739.

Pierre Louis Duchartre: The Italian Comedy
Oliver Crick, John Rudlin: Commedia Dell'Arte: A Handbook for Troupes
Emily Wilbourne:Seventeenth-Century Opera and the Sound of the Commedia dell’Arte

[1] Rose, Margaret (2019), Sewell, Jan; Smout, Clare (eds.), "The First Italian Actresses, Isabella Andreini and the Commedia dell'Arte", The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 107–126, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-23828-5_6, ISBN 978-3-030-23828-5, retrieved 2024-05-30

[2] Shapiro, Michael (2006-01-01), "The Introduction of Actresses in England: Delay or Defensiveness?", Transvestism and the Onnagata Traditions in Shakespeare and Kabuki, Brill, pp. 33–58, ISBN 978-90-04-21358-6, retrieved 2024-05-30

[3] Brown, Pamela Allen (September 2016). "The Traveling Diva and Generic Innovation". Renaissance Drama. 44 (2): 249–267. doi:10.1086/688691. ISSN 0486-3739.

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