Institute of Theatre and Opera – Page 2

Eleonora Duse mito contemporaneo

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Eleonora Duse (Vigevano 1858 – Pittsburgh 1924), the Institute for Theatre and Melodrama opens to the public a temporary exhibition that tells the extraordinary story of this artist.

The exhibition, designed for the spaces of Palazzo Cini in San Vio, aims to portray the famous actress from documents and objects that belonged to her, preserved in the Archives of the Institute for Theatre and Opera. These are unique objects, capable of testifying to the particularity of this revolutionary artist, a point of reference not only for the theater scene of the time, but also for European culture in the decades between the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them, the dresses that belonged to her and pertained to her private wardrobe will have a special relevance. These are haute couture models, perfectly preserved, which restore the charm of distant and particularly evocative years. In addition to the dress made by the Magugliani tailor’s shop, models created by the Jean Philippe Worth atelier, one of the first fashion houses active between London and Paris at the turn of the century, creations by Paul Poiret, the artist who at the beginning of the 20th century made the first form of women’s pants, and some garments made by Mariano Fortuny will be exhibited.

In addition, other precious materials will be on display in the exhibition: autographed letters from various correspondents, rare photographs showing Eleonora Duse in moments of her private life and in stage costume, and precious objects that belonged to her that give back a glimpse of her refined and original taste.

The exhibition aims to offer visitors a snapshot of the great artist who was a symbol of Italian theater in the world, through significant and extraordinary pieces from the Archives, which the Giorgio Cini Foundation’s Institute for Theater has been preserving, at the behest of the actress’s niece and other donors, for many years.

Theatre review | Dall’archivio alla scena (‘From the Archive to the Stage’)

The Institute of Theatre and Opera has conceived and promoted in collaboration with the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale, the theatrical review “From the Archive to the Stage,” which will be held at the Auditorium lo Squero on the Island of San Giorgio from May 16 to June 14. For the occasion, the Institute has worked with the actresses who will be the protagonists of the review: with Sonia Bergamasco, who intends to trace a portrait of Eleonora Duse through the voices of other artists, illustrious witnesses of her art (May 16); with Lucia Poli, selecting a group of letters between the great actress and Giovanni Papini (May 28); and with Elena Bucci, finally, thanks to a work of excavation in the archives among letters and testimonies (June 11).

Also participating in the review are some of the most prestigious theater schools nationwide, training venues that have accepted the Institute’s invitation and offered their young actors to engage with the theater and the art of Eleonora Duse. These are the Accademia dei Filodrammatici, the Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Milan, and the Accademia Teatrale Carlo Goldoni – Teatro Stabile del Veneto.

About the work she is preparing on Duse, Elena Bucci says, “Eleonora transpires and appears from every letter, every document, she smiles at us through time and exhorts us to revolution, which is nothing other than the fight against prejudice and the search for truth, even though she knows that as soon as she glimpses it flees elsewhere. As Eleonora herself does, with her luminous wake.” Sonia Bergamasco, on the other hand, emphasizes how “The Stanza Duse at the Giorgio Cini Foundation was my first research reference, and it remains among the richest and most precious. An island in the island of Venice, an ideal city for Eleonora Duse as well. Returning to that “Room,” every time, is a profound emotion, it is a chance to make new discoveries.”

16.5.2024 – h 7pm

Sonia Bergamasco

LE SUE ROSE CHE CONSIDERO BACI | Eleonora Duse vista dagli altri

24.5.2024 – h 7pm | Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi

IN VIAGGIO CON LA DUSE

28.5.2024 – h 7pm

Lucia Poli

S’IO FOSSI DAVVERO POETA | Il carteggio Duse – Papini

30.5.2024 –h 7pm | Accademia Teatrale Carlo Goldoni

IL BAULE DEI MISTICI – Una ricerca sulla spiritualità di Eleonora Duse

11.6.2024 – h 7pm

Elena Bucci

RIVOLUZIONE DUSE
Inno agli stregati. Parte numero uno, Venezia: Rivoluzione Duse, un archivio vivo

14.6.2024 – h 7pm | Accademia dei Filodrammatici

IL RESPIRO DELL’ANIMA | Eleonora Duse rivelata da Dora Setti

For more information
teatromelodramma@cini.it

For info and tickets

+39 041 2402014 | biglietteria.teatrogoldoni@teatrostabileveneto.it

Singing in the pool, with masks

The seminar Singing in the pool, with masks organised in collaboration with the Théâtre Performance et Societé of the Université Paris 8 and the École Universitaire de Recherche ArTeC – Nanterre, will be held from 5 to 7
March. During the seminar, financed by ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche de France), both theoretical and practical teaching on the use of the mask in theatre, with particular reference to aquatic environments,
will be offered to the students of the University of Nanterre. During the Venetian meeting, which follows an initial seminar held in Paris, curated by Isabelle Moindrot and Giulia Filacanapa, participants will be able to
work on a selection of graphic and pictorial materials conserved in the various archive funds of the Institute for Theatre and Opera. The Institute will also be involved in a series of lectures on the history of contemporary
theatre and the theatrical heritage held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

The Duse Room. Part III Eleonora Duse – the international actress

Starting in March, the Stanza Duse – an archive that has been open to the public since 2011 – will host the third and final appointment in a trilogy of exhibitions, this time dedicated to the international reception of Eleonora
Duse’s theatre. The aim is to broaden our gaze, going beyond the national boundaries and tracing the effect Duse’s acting had on foreign audiences
and contributed to the artistic revolution in early twentieth-century theatre.
Through the press of the time and the writings dedicated to her, visitors will be guided through the discovery of one of the most fortuitous pages of Italian theatre of all time. Voices from both near and far, among the many
available, such as those of Charles Spencer Chaplin, Anton Chekhov, Isadora Duncan, Yvette Guilbert, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, George Bernard Shaw, Lee Strasberg and Konstantin Sergei Stanislavsky will describe a revolutionary actress, deeply inspired and capable of leaving a lasting impression on those who were lucky enough to see her on stage.

Study Day | Mischa Scandella and Italian Set Design in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

As part of the activities promoted by the National Committee for the celebrations of the centenary of Mischa Scandella’s birth, of which the Institute of Theatre and Opera is the promoting body, a study day on the Venetian artist and Italian set design in the second half of the twentieth century is planned. The meeting will provide an opportunity to conclude the work of the National Committee and to introduce the public to both the Venetian set designer’s theatre and the activities promoted during the
Committee’s three-year existence. At the end of the work, the Scandella Prize will be awarded, for the second year running, to students at the Fine Arts Academies for the best set design projects inspired by the work of the Venetian master.
The scenographer Pier Luigi Pizzi, the scholar Cristina Grazioli and the members of the Scandella National Committee – Maria Ida Biggi, Nicola Bruschi, Lorenzo Cutuli and Marianna Zannoni – will be present at the event.

«Se mi dura questo entusiasmo finirò come Narciso». Un viaggio fotografico nella vita della grande attrice. Parte II Eleonora Duse e l’Italia

Pre-empting the major anniversary of 2024, which will mark one hundred years since the death of Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), the Institute for Theatre and Melodrama proposes an exhibition on the famous Italian actress based on documents conserved in the artist’s own personal archive.This new exhibition project follows the one dedicated to the delicate and profound relationship between the actress and the city of Venice, and aims to broaden the focus to the national context in which Eleonora Duse developed professionally, made a name for herself and contributed to major changes.

Study Day The Theatre of the Actors. Wanda Benedetti, Toni Barpi and their Era

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of actress Wanda Benedetti (Treviso, 31 October 1923 – Treviso, 12 July 2017) and of the tenth anniversary of the death of actor Toni Barpi (Feltre, 13 July 1920 – Treviso, 31 October 2013), the Institute for Theatre and Opera intends to promote a study day dedicated to the Veneto theatre scene in the second half of the twentieth century. The two actors, companions both in life and on stage, worked with some of the most important directors of the
time, including Cesco Baseggio, Carlo Lodovici, Renato Simoni, Maurizio Scaparro and Luigi Squarzina. The meeting will provide an opportunity to recall not only the work of these two performers, but more generally to reconstruct a cross-section of theatre in the Veneto area in the decades following WWII.

Wanda Benedetti and Toni Barpi, whose personal archives are conserved by the Institute, worked with other artists whose memory is preserved by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, including stage designer Mischa Scandella, directors Arnaldo Momo, Giovanni Poli and the aforementioned Luigi Squarzina and Maurizio Scaparro.

The Theatre of Franco Scaldati. The Laughter of the Angels

The Institute of Theatre and Opera, in collaboration with the Doctoral School in History of the Arts at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, is promoting a study day dedicated to the Sicilian playwright, director and actor Franco Scaldati. The meeting, which will bring together leading scholars of contemporary theatre, will constitute an opportunity to present the public with the first two volumes of the new critical edition of Franco Scaldati’s works, edited by Valentina Valentini and Viviana Raciti and published by Marsilio.

This series of publications is based on texts conserved in the playwright’s rich archive, donated by the artist’s children to the Institute for Theatre and Melodrama in 2020 and on which the documents kept within it have been reorganised and digitised.

On the occasion of this meeting, excerpts from Scaldati’s texts will be read by Melino Imparato, a historical member of the Compagnia Franco Scaldati.

Eleonora e Venezia. Dieci anni della Stanza Duse

The Eleonora Duse Room is a space permanently dedicated to the memory of the great Italian actress, whose documentary archive is housed at the Institute of Theatre and Opera. Inspired by the model of museum houses, the Room was created in 2011 with the intention of making the extraordinary story of Eleonora Duse and her theatre better known. The ‘Stanza della conservazione’ thus became a living and visitable place, within which – in keeping with the notion of the ‘open archive’ – to promote a diverse range of thematic exhibitions and cultural initiatives.

Today, some ten years later, the Institute wishes to celebrate the history of this place by promoting a temporary exhibition on the relationship between Eleonora Duse and the city of Venice, recalling the activities promoted in the context of this Room over time. The catalogue, published with the contribution of the Veneto Region, thus contains both an in-depth study of the actress’s bond with the Lagoon and a reminder of all the main initiatives staged by the Institute over the years, including exhibitions, meetings, conferences, readings and performances. The many events organised are retraced through a wide-ranging gallery of images, graphics and photographs.

Mischa Scandella. La scena magica

Maria Ida Biggi’s publication, entitled: La scena magica di Mischa Scandella, published as part of the activities of the Comitato nazionale per le celebrazioni del centenario della nascita di Mischa Scandella (‘National Committee for the Celebration of the Centenary of Mischa Scandella’s Birth’) (1921–2021), traces the scenographer’s artistic career.

Mario – known as ‘Mischa’ – Scandella (Venice, 1921 – Rome, 1983) was a Venetian set and costume designer of great talent and sensitivity. His artistic production, now collected in its entirety and presented to the public for the first time in this monograph, contributed to renewing the Italian stage of the second half of the twentieth century with his extravagant and daring contributions.

Trained in the cultural fervour of a post-war Venice, Scandella made his debut in the milieu of the university theatres of Venice and Padua, and soon afterwards came to the fore on a national level. Over the course of his long career, he worked alongside the great names of Italian theatre, including Gianfranco de Bosio, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Vittorio Gassman, Giovanni Poli, Guido Salvini and Giorgio Strehler. Thanks to the generosity of his son Giovanni, Mischa Scandella’s personal archive is now housed at the Institute of Theatre and Opera of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, which has been working on the history of the performing arts and that of set design for many years.