How is our species seen through the eyes of the other inhabitants of the Earth? Is a future more sustainable than our present possible? With a comical and disenchanted outlook, a flock of mechanical crows – animated by Marta Cuscunà – examines the possibility of a new form of harmony between nature and progress.
The flock of crows from La fabbrica del Mondo, the Rai 3 television programme by Marco Paolini and Telmo Pievani, leaves the small screen for the stage, where it is animated by Marta Cuscunà, associated artist at Piccolo Teatro. Corvidae maintains the structure of the television format for which it was created; a series of three seasons of four episodes each, presented in succession to the audience and divided by a theme tune. Each narrative begins with contemporary reality, to then develop towards a shifting future suggested by the thoughts of the crows.
Through a system of joysticks and bicycle brake cables, the installation – designed by Paola Villani and Marco Rogante – allows the mechanical creatures to be actioned: in this show, which examines the future of our planet, robotics play no role. Humans drive the action on the stage.
The flock of crows from La fabbrica del Mondo, the Rai 3 television programme by Marco Paolini and Telmo Pievani, leaves the small screen for the stage, where it is animated by Marta Cuscunà, associated artist at Piccolo Teatro. Corvidae maintains the structure of the television format for which it was created; a series of three seasons of four episodes each, presented in succession to the audience and divided by a theme tune. Each narrative begins with contemporary reality, to then develop towards a shifting future suggested by the thoughts of the crows.
Through a system of joysticks and bicycle brake cables, the installation – designed by Paola Villani and Marco Rogante – allows the mechanical creatures to be actioned: in this show, which examines the future of our planet, robotics play no role. Humans drive the action on the stage.
Credits
Corvidae
Sguardi di specie
by and with Marta Cuscunà
animatronic design and creation Paola Villani
director’s assistant and technical director Marco Rogante
dramaturg Giacomo Raffaelli
video scenography Massimo Racozzi
graphic design Carlotta Amantini
costumes Chiara Venturini
live lighting, audio and video Marco Rogante
scientific consultant MUSE – Museo delle Scienze di Trento
curated and organised by Laura Martinelli, Miriam Paschini
distribution Jean-François Mathieu
originally written for La Fabbrica del Mondo by Marco Paolini and Telmo Pievani, Rai 3 co-produced with Etnorama – Cultura per nuovi ecosistemi, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia, MUSE – Museo delle Scienze di Trento, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Tinaos
the crow installation is part of the set for Il canto della caduta, co-produced with Centrale Fies, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Teatro Stabile di Torino, São Luiz Teatro Municipal – Lisbon; technical sponsor igus® innovazione con i tecnopolimeri, Marta s.rl. industrial supplies