“On Stage” is our weekly column featuring a curated selection of live performances scheduled across Italian stages from April 7 to 12.
Theater and Dance Highlights
Ariel Dorfman’s “The Other Side”: War’s Traumas
Ariel Dorfman’s “The Other Side,” by the acclaimed Latin American intellectual (author of “Death and the Maiden”), masterfully blends absurdity, metaphor, and reality to explore the traumas of war. His terse, symbolic writing blurs the lines between inner and outer worlds. Set in an isolated mountain home in a war-torn country, the play follows a couple dedicated to burying unidentified fallen soldiers. The announcement of peace and the arrival of a third man disrupt their fragile reality, transforming the narrative into a “comic tragedy.” Marcela Serli’s direction heightens the text’s sharp language and evocative atmosphere. The production will be staged in Genoa at Teatro Eleonora Duse from April 8 to 12, followed by Brescia (April 14-19) and Trieste (April 23-26).
Jo Strømgren Kompani’s Dance Tribute to Football
The Jo Strømgren Kompani, a leading independent Scandinavian company, makes its Italian debut with “A Dance Tribute to the Art of Football.” Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren explores the connection between football, a popular sport, and dance, traditionally more elite. The show celebrates the competitiveness, passion, joy, and collective exhilaration shared by both worlds. Performances are scheduled at Teatro Municipale di Casale Monferrato on April 10, Il Maggiore di Verbania on April 12, and Teatro della Tosse in Genoa on April 14.
Daria Deflorian’s Retrospective at Piccolo Teatro di Milano
Piccolo Teatro di Milano dedicates April to its new associate artist, Daria Deflorian, presenting a cycle of four works that weave together stage and writing. The program includes pieces inspired by Nobel laureates Annie Ernaux and Han Kang, as well as French author Édouard Louis. It begins on April 7-8 with “Memoria di ragazza” (Girlhood Memory), a reading from Ernaux’s book. From April 10-19, Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” follows. On April 11-12, Deflorian presents Louis’ “Who Killed My Father” with Antonio Tagliarini, and finally, on April 18-19, “In Praise of the Upside-Down Life,” also from Kang. These works delve into themes of memory, identity, and family relationships.
Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” at Teatro Due di Parma
Teatro Due di Parma hosts the national premiere of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” (April 10-15), directed by Jared McNeill, a longtime collaborator of Peter Brook. McNeill offers a powerful and contemporary interpretation of this enigmatic work, which spans tragedy and comedy. Set between a dystopian, hyper-rational “Sicily” and an explosive, springtime “Bohemia,” the performance explores what happens when order is destabilized by the irrational. A young cast, almost entirely under 35, is accompanied by original live music by Claudio Scarabottini.
Woyzeck: A Drama for Solo Voice
Georg Büchner’s masterpiece, “Woyzeck,” is transformed into “Woyzeck Solo (drama for solo voice)” by Pietro Babina, who directs and performs. This theatrical journey explores the wounds of a man overwhelmed by social, scientific, and moral forces. Babina brings all characters to life through his voice, creating a fragmented universe that unfolds like an uneasy dream, highlighting the protagonist’s radical solitude. The performance is staged at Teatro Arena del Sole in Bologna from April 10 to 12.
The Creative Force of Lavinia
Considered one of Anna Banti’s most beautiful stories, “Lavinia Fuggita” (Lavinia Fled) tells of Lavinia, an 18th-century orphan taken in by Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà. There, she discovers her musical talent, eventually substituting her own compositions for those of Maestro Vivaldi. Upon being discovered and humiliated, Lavinia disappears on a festive day, proud of her intelligence and beauty, leaving behind a mystery. Michela Cescon conceived and stages the play, performing alongside Tullio Visioli and Livia Cangialosi. The show will be at Teatro Oscar in Milan from April 10 to 12.
Peppino Mazzotta in “Radio Argo Suite”
In “Radio Argo Suite,” Peppino Mazzotta, accompanied by live original music by Massimo Cordovani, gives voice and physicality to Igor Esposito’s theatrical score, a contemporary reinterpretation of Aeschylus’s Orestia. A solitary voice traverses the night, recounting fragments of an ancient conflict that repeats endlessly. Six phantom voices resonate among the ruins of the Trojan War, evoking the archetype of a conflict governed by the same logics of power, sacrifice, and deceit across centuries. The performance will be at Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato in Milan from April 8 to 12.
Diego Tortelli and La Venidera for ResExtensa
The National Dance Production Center ResExtensa – Porta d’Oriente in Bari presents two premieres. Diego Tortelli’s choreography “Lu Baciu Santu” draws inspiration from the Taranta bite tradition, reinterpreting it as a chosen kiss, a voluntary act of transformation and awareness, with music by Justin Adams and Mauro Durante. In “NO (short piece)” by La Venidera company, Irene Tena and Albert Hernández explore the tension between roots and innovation in flamenco and Spanish dance, traversing and transforming tradition. Both performances will be at Teatro Abeliano in Bari on April 12.
Giovanni Testori’s “sdisOrè”: The Orestia in Mask
As part of the “Piccoli Salti Mortali – Mappe di appartenenza” festival, MAT – Laboratorio Urbano di Terlizzi will host Giovanni Testori’s “sdisOrè” on April 12. The play subverts the tragic tale of the Orestia through the use of masks and puppets, in dialogue with Testori’s intricate language. A single actress, Evelina Rosselli, wears the masks, animates the puppets, and explores four distinct sound universes, evoking Testori’s ruthless and provocative language to delve into the protagonists of this horrific version of the Orestia.
“We Are Our Roots”: A Dance Exploration
For the “L’Arte dello Spettatore” contemporary dance festival, Roberto Tedesco presents “We Are Our Roots” (at Teatro Traetta in Bitonto, April 12), featuring dancer Laila Lovino and composer Luca Pizzetti. Accompanied by the hypnotic sound of the handpan, the performance explores the interpreter’s journey through departures, arrivals, and returns, focusing on the theme of roots: what has been passed down to us from family and experiences. It is an act of awareness to recognize and transform what we have received for our path.
Marche Teatro’s Youth Company Debuts with Goldoni Adaptation
Marche Teatro’s Youth Company debuts with “The Impresario from Smyrna,” freely inspired by Carlo Goldoni’s comedy, with text and direction by Giuseppe Dipasquale (Teatro Sperimentale di Ancona, April 7-9). The production reinterprets the Goldonian classic in a contemporary key, transforming Smyrna into a metaphor for today’s Dubai, a symbol of ambition and the pursuit of success. With a satirical tone, it explores the world of entertainment, the rivalries and fragilities of actors, viewing theater as a metaphor for a society where appearance often overshadows substance.
Franco Branciaroli in Pirandello’s “One Doesn’t Know How”
Ninety years after its debut, Paolo Valerio directs “One Doesn’t Know How,” Luigi Pirandello’s last completed work, starring Franco Branciaroli. Set in an elegant environment, the play explores humanity’s capacity for irrationality and fragility, revealing “innocent crimes” where instinct overrides ethics. It delves into the vortex of human psychology, showing how, “one doesn’t know how,” the darkest depths of the soul emerge beneath the surface of polite society. The performance will be in Urbino (April 8), Ancona (April 9-12), Corridonia (April 15), and San Benedetto del Tronto (April 18-19).
Vanessa Scalera Stars in “The Better Sister”
Vanessa Scalera stars in Filippo Gili’s “The Better Sister,” directed by Francesco Frangipane. This intense family drama explores a moral dilemma: how would the life of a man, guilty of a serious road fatality, change if he discovered the victim would have had only three months to live anyway? The text addresses the conflict between love, guilt, and remorse, raising questions about justice and morality, and the possibility of easing the burden of such an act. The performance will be at Teatro Vascello in Rome from April 8 to 12.
Dance Between Atonement and Greenwashing
Panzetti / Ticconi present “Cry Violet,” a choreographic creation with a sound composition by Teho Teardo (at Fonderia CCN Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia, April 8). The title refers to an extinct flower, and the performance uses expressions of pain and shame, inspired by original sin, to reveal how humans attempt to atone for environmental guilt through deceptive practices like greenwashing, which conceal real damage rather than resolving it. The work highlights the futility of superficial attempts at environmental recovery.
Gogol’s “Dead Souls”: The Misadventures of an Honest Swindler
Peppino Mazzotta directs and adapts Gogol’s “Dead Souls,” titled “Dead Souls – or the Misadventures of an Honest Swindler.” Pavel Ivànovic Cicikov, a fraudulent bureaucrat, embodies a timeless human prototype whose social climbing is an endless pilgrimage. The performance, an “autopsy of humanity,” brings to the stage a tragicomic gallery of characters whose vices and pettiness reflect our present. It will be at Teatro Del Monaco in Treviso from April 9 to 12.
“The Lady of the Camellias” Put to the Test
Giovanni Ortoleva, a renowned director known for his radical reinterpretations of classics, presents “The Lady of the Camellias,” the third chapter in a trilogy on romantic love myths. The famous story of Marguerite Gautier and Armand Duval is deconstructed here, not just narrated, but put to the test. Love is passion and sacrifice, but also conflict with a judging and condemning society. Ortoleva exposes the power dynamics, the predatory male, and the female reduced to an object. The performance will be at Teatro Giuditta Pasta in Saronno on April 9.
Momix Returns with “Botanica – Season 2”
Moses Pendleton’s Momix presents the absolute premiere of “Botanica – Season 2” at Teatro Celebrazioni in Bologna (April 7-11, then at Teatro Olimpico in Rome from April 28 to May 10). Moses Pendleton describes this second chapter as a re-flowering enriched with new surprises, technological effects, and updated projections, transforming the stage into a “living terrarium.” Dancers embody natural creatures, exploring the alchemy of perception and the sun’s energy, demonstrating that photosynthesis can occur even in the darkness of a theater.
