October 4, 2022

Pergola Theatre: the new 2022/2023 season

A calendar full of events: here are all the shows not to be missed

The new season of the Teatro della Pergola operates on the principles of a Theatre of Art that addresses young people and is based on the Italian language and on the themes shared with the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris in order to consolidate their collaboration. As a point of reference for building bridges between the various disciplines and countries, the pedagogical and cultural legacy of Orazio Costa spread through the Centro di Avviamento all'Espressione (CAE) founded by Costa himself in 1979 and which has become the cultural heart of the Teatro della Toscana's activities. The programme includes, in addition to the subscription shows in the Sala Grande (reopening mid-December after renovation work), 5 national premieres and 5 non-subscription shows in the recently renovated Saloncino Paolo Poli.

SALA GRANDE

The Sala Grande season is inaugurated from 14 to 18 December by the only Italian winner of the Tony Award for best play, Stefano Massini. He will make his national debut with The Interpretation of Dreams, based on his novel Sigmund Freud.

From 27 December to 5 January, the play Uomo e galantuomo (Man and Gentleman), a comedy directed by Armando Pugliese that is full of comedy, love plots and misunderstandings.
Another national premiere from 10 to 15 January: Interno Bernhard - Minetti and the Reformer of the World, the last performance of the great actor Minetti after he decided to retire to a solitary life.
Gabriele Lavia and Federica Di Martino are the directors of Il berretto a sonagli, on stage from 17 to 22 January, an example of an Italian "expressionist" play about a society "sick with lies".

From 24 to 29 January the acrobatic show full of magic and surrealism inspired by the novel of the same name, Nuda, by Daniele Finzi Pasca.
Paolo Valerio brings to the stage a new edition of Carlo Goldoni's La Bottega del caffè from 31 January to 5 February. The play is a demonstration of Goldoni's love for theatre, for writing and for actors, thanks to whom he was able to build his characters.

Madness, lies and family secrets are the themes of Henrik Ibsen's Spectres, which runs from 7 to 12 February.

From 14 to 19 February, Sonia Bergamasco, Vinicio Marchioni, Ludovico Fededegni and Paola Giannini are the protagonists of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which aims, with its powerful and direct language, to uncover what each of us hides about our personalities and weaknesses.

After Il Berretto a sonagli another work by Luigi Pirandello, Come tu mi vuoi, staged by director Luca De Fusco from 21 to 26 February.
The son is part of a trilogy that has human and social implications as its background. This time director Zeller tackles generational misunderstandings through introspection and externalization of the characters' weaknesses. On stage in the Sala Grande from 28 February to 5 March.
In collaboration with the municipality of Siena, from 7 to 12 March, Benvenuti in Casa Gori, a monologue by Alessandro Benvenuti and a tribute to the Tuscan woman and her joking that has been making spectators smile for over thirty years, will be on stage.

From 14 to 19 March, it is the turn of Mettici la mano with Antonio Milo, Adriano Falivene and Elisabetta Mirra, an unprecedented comedy starring a Naples destroyed by Nazi-Fascism but never sad and without love for life.
Sergej Dovlatov brings to the stage La valigia (The Suitcase) from 21 to 26 March, a re-enactment of his own story by a radio presenter through that of Dovlatov, a journalist and reporter.
Coming to the theatre for the first time is Paolo Genovese and his adaptation of Perfetti Sconosciuti, a comedy about friendship, love and betrayal between four pairs of friends who find they do not know each other so well. On stage from 28 March to 2 April.
From 11 to 16 April, Chiara Francini and Alessandro Federico give life to Coppia aperta quasi spalancata, a tragicomic comedy that talks about being a couple by describing the differences between male and female in a way that is both funny and dramatic at the same time.
L'uomo dal fiore in bocca, l'ultima recita is the third show based on a work by Pirandello, L'uomo dal fiore in bocca, an adaptation by Roberto Cavosi of the author's famous monologue. It will run from 18 to 23 April.
Eugène Ionesco's The King Dies returns to the stage 60 years after its premiere at the Théàtre de l'Alliance francaise in Paris. With music by Oscar winner Nicola Piovani, it is a completely topical play that aims to create awareness, which is especially necessary in today's complicated times. Edoardo Siravo takes the stage from 26 to 30 April.
From 2 to 7 May Molière's Il Misantropo by Andrée Ruth Shammah who, thanks to Franco Parenti, learned to love this artist and wanted to bring him back on stage with Luca Micheletti.
Closing the season in the Sala Grande will be Seneca's Phaedra from 9 to 14 May. Elena Sofia Ricci is the director of the show whose protagonist is the power of the word.

PAOLO PAOLI SALON

The first non-subscription show is the national premiere of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, from 11 to 20 October, adapted by Filippo Gentili. The play has been updated, where possible, with a more comprehensible language so as to be more direct and effective for the audience.

From 25 to 30 October it is the turn of Bazin, a show with which its creator, Giancarlo Sepe, celebrates 50 years of activity at his theatre La Comunità.

Siddhartha, for the first time in Italy, will be on stage from 3 to 6 November thanks to Manuele Morgese's project to transform Hermann Hesse's novel into a play.
Another national premiere on the Pergola stage. El amor brujo + La consagración de la primavera, on stage from 9 to 12 November, are two projects that Israel Galván has been working on in parallel since 2019 and that today, after the pandemic has passed, he is ready to bring to the stage for the first time in Italy.
From 22 to 27 November, Fabrizio Bentivoglio stars in Lettura Clandestina. La solitudine del satiro (The Loneliness of the Satyr) by Ennio Flaiano, a reading of some of Ennio Flaviano's articles written for newspapers and magazines to narrate Italy in a satirical tone.
Closing the non-subscription events, from 30 November to 3 December, is another national premiere: La colonia. Beppe Navello, also for the first time in Italy, directs his show dealing with the figure of women in the form of a comedy but making an appeal to the new generations on the subject.