La commedia della vanità
Concluded
©Serena Pea
Claudio Longhi stages one of the lesser known but most topical of Elias Canetti’s works, describing a dystopian world in which a totalitarian government bans vanity, depriving people of their identities.
-
Teatro Strehler
Claudio Longhi stages Elias Canetti, with almost thirty actors involved in presenting Italian audiences with the great Nobel prize-winning author through one of his lesser known but most topical works.
La commedia della vanità, written between 1933 and 1934, published in 1950 and performed for the first time in 1965, describes a dystopian world in which a totalitarian government “legally” establishes that vanity is banned and all instruments which keep it in existence are to be destroyed. All mirrors are banned, and their manufacturers are executed, but rather than self-celebration, what is destroyed is the very idea of identity itself. What remains? An intricate and volatile lexical undercurrent, words presented faithfully by Canetti as he himself heard them and presented through the mechanism of the “acoustic mask”, or rather the re-proposing of language without modifications or enhancements, whether it be dialect or language either broken or grand.
In the re-reading by Claudio Longhi, this polyphonic chorus spreads from the stage and spreads throughout the stalls, communicating to the audience all of the urgency and depth - as well as the enjoyment - of Canetti’s words. In the background, the nightmare of an emerging dictatorship is loudly applauded.
Duration: 3 hours and 45 minutes with 2 intervals
Claudio Longhi stages Elias Canetti, with almost thirty actors involved in presenting Italian audiences with the great Nobel prize-winning author through one of his lesser known but most topical works.
La commedia della vanità, written between 1933 and 1934, published in 1950 and performed for the first time in 1965, describes a dystopian world in which a totalitarian government “legally” establishes that vanity is banned and all instruments which keep it in existence are to be destroyed. All mirrors are banned, and their manufacturers are executed, but rather than self-celebration, what is destroyed is the very idea of identity itself. What remains? An intricate and volatile lexical undercurrent, words presented faithfully by Canetti as he himself heard them and presented through the mechanism of the “acoustic mask”, or rather the re-proposing of language without modifications or enhancements, whether it be dialect or language either broken or grand.
In the re-reading by Claudio Longhi, this polyphonic chorus spreads from the stage and spreads throughout the stalls, communicating to the audience all of the urgency and depth - as well as the enjoyment - of Canetti’s words. In the background, the nightmare of an emerging dictatorship is loudly applauded.
Duration: 3 hours and 45 minutes with 2 intervals
Meetings and insights
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
-
Serena Pea
Credits
Piccolo Teatro Strehler
from 15 to 26 January 2020
La commedia della vanità
by Elias Canetti
translated by Bianca Zagari
directed by Claudio Longhi
sets Guia Buzzi, costumes Gianluca Sbicca, video Riccardo Frati, lighting Vincenzo Bonaffini
with Fausto Russo Alesi, Donatella Allegro, Michele Dell’Utri, Simone Francia, Diana Manea, Eugenio Papalia, Aglaia Pappas, Franca Penone, Simone Tangolo, Jacopo Trebbi
and with Rocco Ancarola, Simone Baroni, Giorgia Iolanda Barsotti, Oreste Leone Campagner, Giulio Germano Cervi, Brigida Cesareo, Elena Natucci, Marica Nicolai, Nicoletta Nobile, Martina Tinnirello, Cristiana Tramparulo, Giulia Trivero, Massimo Vazzana
violino Renata Lackó
cimbalom Sándor Radics
assistant playwright Matteo Salimbeni
assistant to the director Elia Dal Maso
vocal coach Cristina Renzetti
an Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale, Fondazione Teatro della Toscana, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura production
GUEST PRODUCTION - PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE FOR SUBSCRIPTION HOLDERS
Stalls:
Full price € 33 | Discounted price for youngsters and the elderly (under 26 and over 65) € 21
Balcony:
Full price € 26 | Discounted price for youngsters and the elderly (under 26 and over 65) € 18
INFO, PURCHASES AND RESERVATIONS
piccoloteatro.org
Subscriptions and full-price and promotional tickets are available for purchase online
Tickets for plays for the current season can be purchased up to one hour before the beginning of scheduled performances.
Teatro Strehler box office
Largo Greppi 1, M2 Metro Station Lanza. From Mondays to Saturdays 9.45 a.m. - 6.45 p.m.; Sundays 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
It is possible to purchase full-price or discounted tickets (for spectators under the age of 26 or over the age of 65), as well as subscriptions.
For the final hour before the beginning of a performance, the box office is available exclusively for the production that is due to begin.
Box office line +39 02 42411889
From Mondays to Saturdays, 9.45 a.m. - 6.45 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
It is possible to purchase full price or discounted tickets (for spectators under the age of 26 or over the age of 65) as well as subscriptions.
Automatic box office Chiostro Nina Vinchi
Via Rovello 2, M1 Metro Station Cordusio. Active during the opening hours of the Chiostro
It is possible to purchase subscriptions, as well as full-price and promotional tickets
Tickets for all productions for the current season can be purchased up to one hour before the beginning of scheduled performances.
Reservations
Reservations are available exclusively for subscription holders. Reservations are valid up to one month before the chosen date: for example, if a reservation is made for a show performing on 15 March, the seats must be confirmed by 15 February. The reservation must be picked up by the deadline at the Teatro Strehler box office or via the box office line.
Unconfirmed reservations will be automatically cancelled.
It is not possible to make reservations less than one month before the chosen performance date.
Please remember that printed vouchers cannot be either substituted or refunded.
Oro subscription holders can cancel vouchers which have already been issued by and no later than 6 p.m. on the day before the date on the voucher free of charge.
Important information regarding Subscriptions
For subscription holders under the age of 26 or over the age of 65, the issuing of reduced-price subscriptions is possible exclusively on presentation of a valid form of identity at the Teatro Strehler box office.
Piccolo Teatro Subscription tickets provide for the assigning of seats according to availability for the chosen date and show.
Services for the disabled
For information on prices, seats and dedicated services click here
Dedicated email for the public
servizioalpubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it
For artistic reasons, access to the auditorium is not permitted once the performance has started. You may take your seat during any intervals.
Purchased tickets cannot be cancelled or substituted or be used for dates or times which differ from those indicated.
Groups and organisations
For information on tickets and subscriptions for groups and organisations, and afternoon performances for schools and educational shows, please contact the Servizio Promozione Pubblico e Proposte Culturali.
Tel. 02.72.333.216
e-mail: promozione.pubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it
