La guardia alla luna

work by Bontempelli

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June 29, 2026

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La guardia alla luna, or "Watching for the Moon," is a play by Massimo Bontempelli, an Italian writer known for his "magic realism" style. Performed in 1916, the play tells the story of a woman who blames the moon for her child's death and attempts to climb a mountain to kill it. Bontempelli was a leading figure in the Italian literary movement stracittà, which emerged after World War I and sought to align Italian literature with broader European trends, moving away from nationalism and regionalism. His works often blended elements of Surrealism and magic realism.12

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Massimo Bontempelli
A particularly striking play is La guardia alla luna (performed 1916; “Watching for the Moon”), the story of a woman who blames the moon for her child’s death and climbs a mountain to try to kill it.
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A particularly striking play is La guardia alla luna (performed 1916; “Watching for the Moon”), the story of a woman who blames the moon for her child’s death and climbs a mountain to try to kill it.
Read More