Children in a theatre

For Mussolini, a skilled communicator and expert on journalism, theatre was also a propaganda tool, though in a more placid, discreet way. Together with the “theatre of the masses” enacted in Fascist events, the regime took great care to encourage a theatre “for” the masses that did not have explicitly instructive ends, but constituted a solid means of propaganda, not underestimating the artistic aspects and glorifying the civilization, good taste and beauty of the Italian homeland. The government organized “theatrical Saturdays”, and on 30 June 1938 the Duce presided over the opening of the “Teatro per ventimila” at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.