A world day of theater with closed curtains – Theater

Since it was established in 1961 in Vienna on the initiative of the International Theater Institute, it has never happened to celebrate it with lowered curtains and empty audiences almost all over the world. But in times of Coronavirus, we live in exceptional situations. So that’s how March 27, perhaps a little muted, is also the World Theater Day for Italian stages, celebrated this year with a message to the Pakistani author Shahid Mahmood Nadeem. “The rooms are still, it is true, but the Theater is alive. It is not a closure, but a wait”, assures Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, director and director of the Teatro di Roma, among the many in recent days to focus on ANSA on a new audience, that of web and social, for which billboards, appointments, readings, streaming of shows of the past seasons are built. “From next week we will also debut with Radio India – he says – Of course, theater is made by artists and by the public. An empty theater is as if it ceased to exist. And my thoughts are for all those who cannot work at the moment. But the web right now allows us to leave that thread of participation with the city tense. ” “We have also launched the Cantieri del Biondo – says Pamela Villoresi, at the helm of the Palermo stage – We share the creative phase of the show with the city. For example, for Aulularia, Plauto’s comedy, we are involving the kids in translating from Latin. Then there will be a stage dedicated to scenography and another for costumes. So that when it comes to the live show, it will be a collective party. I honestly wonder why we didn’t start doing it before. ”

“Theater is one of the oldest ways in which man gives answers to the great themes of being in the world, to mysteries, conflicts, fears, amazement”, reflects Roberto Andò, as director of the Naples Stable , which for the World Theater Day will enrich its #teatroacasa section with contributions and reflections by artists and directors, from Emma Dante to Ruggero Cappuccio, Imma Villa, Carlo Cerciello, Claudio Di Palma. “Going to the theater – he explains – means sitting next to strangers in the dark, hearing and seeing someone on stage speaking to our conscience. The proliferation of all these interventions on the net is an attempt to break the distance and exorcise the void. A sometimes it appears clumsy, sometimes useless. But it is still ‘necessary’ “. There are, however, even those who disagree. “The theater is live. It is word, breath, breath, smell – says Massimo Romeo Piparo from the Sistina in Rome – Every fifteen days I write to our spectators, to reassure them, on their tickets and season tickets. But woe to pass on the message that live or video theater is the same. Or that you can see so much for free. ” The gaze is on “after”, on how it will be possible to start again. “Nothing will be the same and unfortunately – Piparo continues – we were the first to pay the consequences and we will be the last to start again. We will have to reckon with our very essence: being close”. “At this moment – Corsetti continues – we would have had Carlo Cecchi on stage with Sik Sik by Eduardo. Then Misericordia by Emma Dante. We are working to propose them later. But when? Can it be opened this summer? And it will make sense to program shows in August ? I am reminded of Kafka’s Metamorphoses, when the protagonist wakes up completely transformed … “.

“The first task of the Theater – Villoresi relaunches – will be to rebuild a social coexistence. We will suffer the consequences of this period also in the next season. But in the meantime – he concludes – we hope to be able to propose Bengal outdoors in Palermo under the direction of Marco Carniti, the the last show on the billboard. In June, July. Or even September. ” Provided you come back on stage.