News from Benevento.
Servillo, Poli, Taiuti, and Mascia at Città Spettacolo
Lord Chandos' Letter
In this famous work von Hofmannsthal imagines that a writer, Lord Chandos, sends a letter to Francis Bacon confirming his decision never to write again. From deep within his soul Hofmannsthal describes the anguish that has brought the writer to this extreme decision. Accompanied by a pianist, Antonio Ballista, who offers beautiful musical mirror images to the text, a magnificent Toni Servillo, immobile and with only the intensity of his voice, brings to life the words of Hofmannsthal: the pain of "seeing" the harmony and Gestalt of the universe but not knowing one single word of the language needed to describe it. And because of the absolute lack of gesture or performance and thanks to his extraordinary talent and stage presence, Servillo confirms the truly incredible power of the spoken word in theatre.
Informative notes
Author: Hugo von Hofmannstahl
Voice: Toni Servillo
Piano: Antonio Ballista
Production: Teatri Uniti
Place: Hortus Conclusus, Benevento Città Spettacolo (September 3, 2007)
Patricia Highsmith: Shivers
Exhilarating, a geyser, a shooting star... these seem to be the most appropriate words to describe the brilliant Lucia Poli in this selection of monologues with music based on stories by Patricia Highsmith, the famous American mystery writer. Two costume changes and a few oversized props enable this talented actress to spin out five tales so realistically that we see the unfolding of events through the eyes of a neurotic nanny, a pseudo artist, a clever cockroach, a determined cat and a very ununsual Pope. Lucia Poli uses the harmony of her splendid voice and malleable body to weave the magic of a fine storyteller, accompanied onstage by a wonderful young pianist, Andrea Farri, who creates fluid harmonies with which he then paints a musical counterpoint to the scenes.
Informative notes
Author: Patricia Highsmith
Actress: Lucia Poli
Original music: Francesco Marini and Andrea Farri
Piano: Andrea Farri
Production: Compagnia Giovani Artisti Associati
Place: Mulino Pacifico, Benevento Città Spettacolo (September 4, 2007)
Orphic Sun
In the beautiful setting of the Hortus Conclusus garden, a sound of far-off thunder announces the arrival of a modern Orpheus descended into a personal hell populated by images that bring to mind a painting of Bosch.
Music that sets the ear on edge, loops of text, fragments of sound and the versatile talent of Tonino Taiuti in the double role of actor/musician paint for us the journey of this Orpheus who searches for the divine shadow where he may one day find carnal redemption. "I was not made for death!..." he cries, "my end is my beginning."
Onstage this prose/poem by Igor Esposito is magically brought to life by an extraordinary Tonino Taiuti and the two musicians Maurizio Argenziano and Mario Gabola, members of the musical group A Spirale.
Informative notes
Author: Igor Esposito
Directed and interpreted by: Tonino Taiuti
Musicians: Maurizio Argenziano (electric guitar) and Mario Gabola (tenor sax)
Production: Vesuvio Teatro
Place: Hortus Conclusus, Benevento Città Spettacolo (September 5, 2007)
An Excess of Zeal
In this play by Santanelli, the unusual relationship that unites the three characters Ivio, Aurora and Demetrio (a man, his wife, her widowed father) is permeated by subtle and, at the same time, not-so-subtle power struggles. An unexpected event dramatically alters the dynamics of this relationship based on an apparently normal equilibrium. None of the three characters manage to really "move on", to evolve and leave behind the human malaise in which they live: the family group is bound together inside an invisible but devasting emotional prison. A final, tragic event may eventually allow them to communicate, but Nello Mascia's excellent directing and the extraordinary acting by Mascia, Alvea Reale and Fernando Pannullo maintain the "open ending" of this script that so accurately portrays human frailty.
In this performance Mascia not only confirms his extraordinary talent for interpreting Santanelli's works (memorable his Pacebbene in Emergency Exit) and the twentieth-century Neapolitan repertoire (it is enough to remember his season with Eduardo and his numerous stagings of Viviani), but he also has given proof of his wonderful skill as an interpreter of twentieth-century European theatre.
An Excess of Zeal, one of Santanelli's plays which most reflects the influence of Theatre of the Absurd and of its founder (Beckett), is published through the kind concession of the Author in the Library of the website Teatro Napoletano (www.teatro.unisa.it).
Informative notes
Author: Manlio Santanelli
Directed by: Nello Mascia
Actors: Nello Mascia, Alvia Reale, Fernando Pannullo
Music: Benedetto Marcello
Stage design and costumes: Laboratorio Teatro Biondo Stabile di Palermo
Production: Conservatorio d'Arte Drammatica
Place: Teatro Massimo, Benevento Città Spettacolo (September 5, 2007)
Patricia Lopez