INTERVIEW: Italian theater festival returns with expanded programming
Photo: Little Funerals by Maurizio Rippa will be performed at the 2023 In Scena! Italian Theater Festival. Photo courtesy of the artists / Provided by Emily Owens PR with permission.
The In Scena! Italian Theater Festival returns to the Big Apple, with works being performed across all five boroughs of the city and even beyond, with some performances in Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit and San Diego. The 10th anniversary event is presented by Kairos Italy Theater, which is based in New York City, in partnership with KIT Italia and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU, according to press notes.
Amazingly, admission to every event is free for audience members, and theatergoers can expect some fo the best in modern Italian theater, performed in Italian with English supertitles. The programming kicks off Monday, May 1 with an opening night ceremony at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU. This is followed by performances of We, Puppets: Story of a Life Shattered by Racism (May 2 and 5), Only Mozart Is Missing (May 2, 3 and 6) and Luisa (May 4 and 9). Other highlights include a dance work written, directed and choreographed by Tiziana Troja; a Maurizio Rippa work called Little Funerals; and Mubarak’s Niece by Valentina Diana.
At the center of the festival is artistic director Laura Caparrotti, who recently exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about the Italian theater offerings coming to New York City. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Can you believe it has been 10 years since the launch of this festival? Are you a nostalgic person who likes to look at the past?
Every time I say ‘10 years’ I have a moment of pause in my mind, and I repeat 10 years, 10 years. It’s so easy to say it, and yet how much life there is in 10 years. I am not sure I am surprised. I know myself enough at this point to know that I can’t give up until I make a dream come true and that I don’t stop easily. In Scena! is a beautiful project, constantly evolving, that shares art, life, and passion with the community of artists, in Italy and in the U.S., and with the audience in NY and in the other cities where we bring the festival. The human component is the most precious element of this festival, including the support of our partners, the most important being Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU (without them there wouldn’t be In Scena!). And to answer your question, I used to be a person really attached to the past. Now it’s different. Maybe because I am older, I now tend to look to the future to make the best of it.
How did the Italian theater scene fare during the pandemic? Did many companies close permanently?
As far as I know, no companies closed permanently. In Italy, especially in Rome, the capital of the country, the theaters keep closing, not the theater companies. The big issue for theater companies is financial support. Italian theater is based on public support, coming from local and national government, rarely from foundations. The rules to get such support are not really realistic as, for instance, in order to ask for support you need to have a certain number of shows in one year, but realistically it’s very difficult to collect a lot of shows dates in one year unless you are a very established company or production. I am happy to report though that right now Italian theater is beautifully (and fully) back on the Italian stage.
What do you believe distinguishes this year’s festival from festivals in the past?
Well, that is easy, this year In Scena! goes to Detroit, Los Angeles and San Diego for the very first time and to Boston for the second time. The goal is to have a West Coast and an East Coast edition, where the East Coast is still the main one, and to bring as much Italian theater — from Italy, with English supertitles — to more U.S. (and Canada hopefully) cities possible. The Italian theater in translation is already getting around thanks to the work I do with my company, Kairos Italy Theater, a company that is 23 this year!
Why is it important to have theatrical offerings in all five boroughs (and beyond)?
Not only the offerings go to all five NYC boroughs, but the admission is free for all! The importance is to bring the theater to communities that are not used to going to the theater or to see theater from other countries. When I started I thought that we were going to have many Italians and Italian-Americans audience members. I was wrong. The majority of our audience is American, doesn’t speak the language and doesn’t have a connection with Italy; they just love good stories, and to me that is the magic of theater, bringing together people of any background. I strongly believed since more than 10 years ago, when going outside of Manhattan wasn’t so fashionable, that NYC is made of five beautiful boroughs, and that each of them has a lot to offer to artists. It’s hard to do it, but the satisfaction in seeing the smiles of the audience and of our artists that discover a new part of NY is priceless.
How do you know which productions to bring to New York City?
We have a call every year where we collect proposals from all over Italy. It’s important to have a call as we want to make sure that the artists know how the festival works and are OK with that. Once we have the proposals, I check all of them together with the associate director, Donatella Codonesu, who lives in Italy and often is able to see the shows live.
Once we have a more defined idea, we include our partners at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, and we decide. At this point, after 10 years, I have a good sense of what could be interesting and/or necessary because of the artist on stage, the story or both! And, of course, we always look at the quality of the show. These are all shows that are touring Italy, so they are professionals, in some cases awarded important theater prizes and sometimes by famous authors, with famous actors, directors and so on. We really bring some of the best theater there is in Italy, often independent (even if this concept doesn’t exist in Italy), sometimes mainstream.
Then, as I have been an actress since 1990 (and with that you can understand my age), a lot of Italian colleagues, also friends, have a show that intrigues me. In those cases, I talk to the artist and see if they are interested in coming to In Scena! The most important aspect is to bring great Italian theater, or I can just say great theater, to the United States. It’s like taking a plane to go to Italy to see theater, without traveling.
Are you ready for the next 10 years of In Scena!?
Absolutely! My obsession right now is trying to understand what I can truly give to artists and to the audience, what makes sense to do and what is less important and therefore useful. I keep having dialogues with my peeps, in NY and in Italy, to understand what path could be more useful for everyone. I am so looking forward to the next 10 without knowing exactly how the festival will evolve. I know that we will keep bringing theater, great theater, from Italy for everyone to enjoy it.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
In Scena! Italian Theater Festival runs May 1-16 in New York City and beyond. Click here for more information and tickets.
