Commedia dell'arte
Pietro Chiari and Carlo Goldoni, two Venetian writers, were moving away from the old style of Italian theatre, which threatened the work of the Granelleschi Society. In 1757 Gozzi defended Commedia dell'arte by publishing a satirical poem, "La tartana degli influssi per l'anno 1756", and in 1761, in his comedy based on a fairy tale, "The Love for Three Oranges" or "Analisi riflessiva della fiaba L'amore delle tre melarance", he parodied Chiari and Goldoni. To perform his play, he obtained the services of the Sacchi company of players, a Commedia dell'arte troupe who had been out of work due to the dwindling interest in Commedia dell'arte after Chiari and Goldoni's efforts. Their satirical powers thus sharpened by personal vendetta, the play was an extraordinary success, and Gozzi donated his play and the rest of his fairy tales to Sacchi's troupe, which in effect saved the company. While some have called Gozzi the saviour of Commedia dell'arte there has been much debate due to the fact that Gozzi wrote out all his scripts and traditional Commedia dell'arte is mainly improvised.