Antonia Brancati

THE TWO SISTERS (Alberto Bassetti)

Antonia — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:54:41 +0000

An empty, indefinable space. Two young women, two sisters, waiting for a coach that will probably never come, meditate on their future; they are two actresses who have just seen their own small theater company go bankrupt. But this is not ‘Theatre in the Theatre “, nor a reflection on the role of the actor. This play is mainly about the dramatic situation of usury, which, particularly in this period is so strongly in the limelight. It is a subject which, however, is handled in an apparently mild, light way (even visually, here, because of a strictly bare stage), without minimalism, however, as well as no yelling.
This is a play of small and common characters, both sensitive and fragile: it’s not by chance that they are two actresses: people who live precariously a life made up of physical, and especially mental travels, of emotional and temperamental adherence to dramatic or comedic situations, to happiness or despair. So that what we see could be a play set by Francesca, the sister most given to lies, or it might be an extreme and real situation, sprung from the love and the lost and insecure candor of Susanna, who has for it the most devastating of remedies: suicide. Will Francesca agree to accept this sad, Chekhovian fate, or is she pretending, believing in fact that this is only the umpteenth joke of melodramatic Susy? But why Chekhov? Cited as a catchphrase by Francesca who dreams those unparalleled female roles, Chekhov comes to mind because of his extraordinary ability to be simple, accessible and natural while talking about the great daily tragedy, showing us the most fearsome aspect of daily life: the common and ordinary “pain of living”; in a comic / tragic-comic style that pitilessly portrays life as it is.

THE TWO BROTHERS (Alberto Bassetti)

Antonia — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:41:25 +0000

Two brothers, Mark and Andrew, meet again, after many years, at the home of their dying father, nay: the man is still alive, but in a condition that resembles death, immobilized in his bed unable to recognize even his own children, virtually little more than an object, day and night humiliatingly depending on a caregiver or on his eldest son, Andrew, who takes care of him when the woman is absent. The youngest brother, Mark, travels the world in the wake of a humanitarian organization, perhaps as way of feeling alive and in less pain than when he was a child and was often prey of epileptic seizures.
Meeting again after many years, the two brothers at first seem to regress to their childhood, then Mark starts telling his real or imaginary tales of his extraordinary encounters in India, Africa or other places that he probably has mythologized, in a confusion between reality and fantasy that puts a strain on the patience of Andrew. Taken in the stream of storytelling, even Andrew will tell his own story. The personalities of the two brothers will gradually unfold, as the looming shadow behind the door will be discovered, as Andrew will finally force his brother to accept a terrible present.

ALBERTO BASSETTI

Antonia — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:17:45 +0000

ALBERTO BASSETTI was born in Roma, August 4th 1955. He graduated in Literature in 1989. He is artistic director of “Quartieri dell’Arte” (with G.M. Cervo) and “Opere – Castello di Bracciano” festivals ; since 2007 also directs teatro lo Spazio in Rome (www.teatrolospazio.it)

He started writing for the Theatre in 1989, winning the most important Prizes: Institute of Italian Drama in 1990 for “The Burrow” and 1995 for “The Cage”; Fondi-La Pastora Prize in 1990 for “Master State”; Giuseppe Fava Prize for “The Bridge”; other Prizes for his career.He recently received the most ancient Italian prize: Premio Vallecorsi for his drama: “The two brothers”.

Some other plays: “Soul sellers”, “A man apart”, “The womb”, “Harem”, “The secret of life”, “The grindstone”, “Two sisters”, “The flight of the cock”, and his new “Entrances”, the most of them represented in many different Public (‘Teatro Stabile del Friuli-Venezia-Giulia’ in Trieste, CTB in Brescia, Teatro Carignano in Torino, Teatro di Roma) or Private Italian theatres.

He has worked with best directors (Albertazzi, Calenda, Piccardi, Maltauro, Belli, Tatiana Olear and so on) and actors (Gabriele Ferzetti, Giuseppe Pambieri, Flavio Bucci, Piera degli Esposti, Roberto Herlitzka, Gianni Garko, Daniela Giovanetti, Isabel Russinova and many others). Almost all plays are published in books or reviews, and many have been presented on the Radio RAI channels.

His play “The burrow” has been represented in different versions in Italy and in Spain (1997 ‘Grec Festival’ in Barcellona and tourneé) and France (‘Theatre Nationale de la Colline’ in Paris, italian festival). His short monologue “Questions?” was at “Rond Point” in Paris; “Soul Sellers” was at Teatro di Roma, National Drama of Croatia, and in Prague at Narodni Divadlo in 2005 both in Italian and Czech versions; this year “The cage” was selected at Burgtheater Kasino in Wien last winter for the “Fine settimana italiano”. His works were included in Festivals in Chile (Festival of European Drama) and Venezuela.

In september 2005 his first movie: “Above and under the bridge” (based on his Giuseppe Fava Prize winner play) debuted at the World Film Festival of Montreal. He is also director of documentaries stories for national TV, RAI.

This year his play “The two brother” has won the ‘Premio Vallecorsi’, and has been represented in Trieste, directed by Antonio Calenda; in June will be on scene in New York.