Theatrical Residence Project 2021

A theatrical research residence provides the opportunity for a theatre company to dedicate time for the necessary reflection, experimentation and analysis which precedes the creation of a new work. The possibility of being able to develop a project more deeply is usually quite limited as time for research and experimentation is not compensated. Theatre companies, in order to survive, must give priority to theatrical tours to gain revenue. In this time of the Covid pandemic with the consequent closure of cultural venues, all performances were cancelled. The long duration of this situation, which has no end in sight, has put in serious risk the existence of these theatre companies.

With this theatrical residence project, the Foundation has decided to offer artists the possibility of continuing their work, providing them with the opportunity to use this period of pandemic closure to dedicate their time for research and artistic growth in beneficial preparation for the time when theatres will open once again.

The in-house residency 2021 were supported by Gottfried und Ursula Schäppi-Jecklin Stiftung.

La melodia dei pensieri is the result of the encounter between a musician (multi-instrumentalist and composer) and a philosopher, and their shared desire to create a dialogue between text and music, philosophy and physical theatre. The project is an attempt to communicate using a variety of languages, to discover each other’s universe while sharing one’s own, in order to create an entirely new score.

The initial concept is based on two observations. The first is that philosophy is often difficult to access, due to the intellectualism and elitism of philosophical texts. The second is that music is easily accessible, because it is often perceived rather than understood. The research will therefore focus on two key questions: What can music as an expressive medium contribute to the accessibility of philosophy? And how can reflection, intellectualism and philosophy enrich music?

Un’altra notte tells the story of two important stages of life: childhood and the Third Age, and aims at showcasing their absolute beauty.

Un’altra notte is a game, a dream, a journey that happens over the course of a night, a tale that gets told at every sundown and at the dawn of life.

The two young artists, Marzia Pellegrini and Riccardo Trovato, will create a hybrid performance featuring puppetry, classic theatre and spoken-word.

Raissa Avilés, Balazs Varnai and Alix Logiaco will be rehearsing and developing their research project Maybe a concert at the Foundation.

Maybe a concert combines music and performance art, while investigating their boundaries, resemblances and intentions. Questioning the classical notion of “concert”, the human figure in constant plastic and emotional movement leaves the spectator wondering who and what they are seeing.

On the stage, musicians and performers share a free space where anything can happen. Performer and singer Raissa Avilés blends songs and creates a multi-faceted and ever-changing character. The original repertoire written by Raissa Avilés and by composer and pianist Balazs Varnai is inspired by the universe of jazz ballads, with some indie influences and elements of classical music.

“Out of Me, Inside You is a choreography of sounds, videos, body and words about the state I wish for all human beings of the future. Human beings that won’t perceive themselves as physical entities, with a body and a brain, but as world. I want to use melancholy, a feeling that we are all familiar with but that we usually experience in isolation, as a key to access the perceivable world, so to make it a collective celebration and a starting point. Sink into it and come back transformed.”

This is the aim of Francesca Sproccati, who for this project is collaborating with Elena Boillat (assistant director) and Adrian Iiriti (sound design).

“Living (in) the archive of radical feminism” project
 

The Foundation has decided to host the Swiss artists Angela Marzullo (director and performer) and Carlotta Storelli (dancer, artist and performer) with their research project “Living (in) the archive of radical feminism”. The project, begun initially by Angela, later joined by Carlotta, develops the themes associated with the birth of the “Rivolta femminile”, radical feminism movement and the “Autocoscienza femminista”, feminist self-awareness work led by the art critic Carla Lonzi and the painter Carla Acardi of Rome. Their research is based on historical source work from the archives in Rome and from the Associazione Archivi Riuniti delle Donne Ticino (Archives of Ticinese Women) in Massagno. Their research work will culminate in an installation joining performance and narrative.

The artists will present an extract of their research work on Wednesday 24 March at 8.00 pm live on our social channels.

G (semplicemente, simply) - Songs and Monologues stolen from Giorgio Gaber and Sandro Luporini
 

Stefano Orlandi (creator and performer), Massimo Betti (guitarist), Stefano Fascioli (double bass player) and Omar Nedjari (director) will be guests of the Foundation with their project G (semplicemente). This work is dedicated to the great Milanese singer/songwriter Giorgio Gaber, known also as “Signor G”. During their residence, the theatre group will be able to deepen their development of a future show which will take the form which Gaber pioneered, that of “teatro canzone”, literally ‘song theatre’, a show covering thirty years of Gaber’s artistic career.

Born of the mind and expressive body of this singer/songwriter, and with the words of Sandro Luporini, Signor G personified the emotions, dreams and sentiments of an everyman, who through songs and monologues lucidly, ironically and movingly represented the human condition.

This work was presented in a live stream on the 14th of February 2021, and was filmed by Marcus Otz.