Catania, Zō Centro Culture Contemporanee: the multidisciplinary stage of AltreScene

In a world increasingly characterized by a growing contamination between the levels of knowledge and action, even the stage inevitably takes on an increasingly multidisciplinary value. This imperative, well summarized in the guiding parameters of the Ministry of Culture, is the beacon that guides the action of Zō Centro Culture Contemporanee in Catania which is preparing to launch the new season of AltreScene, the review of contemporary creations.

The multidisciplinary is inseparable from the contemporary, they are the stage arts 2.0. The theater that offers AltreScene more than breaking further with tradition, instead wants to recover and revisit memory but in a contemporary key as in the case of “Totò e Vicè” by Franco Scaldati, in the unpublished reinterpretation of Giuseppe Cutino with Rosario Palazzolo, AntonGiulio Pandolfo, Egle Mazzamuto and Sabrina Petyx, which opens the review on Saturday 5 November, a production of the Alternative Energies Cultural Association, Palermo, executive production ACTI Teatri Indipendenti, Turin, with the support of Babel / Spazio Franco, Palermo and Compagnia dell’Arpa, Enna. Totò and Vicé are two of the most extraordinary characters in Franco Scaldati’s universe: born and lived in another time, linked in the soul by a mutual and absolute friendship, they live on fragments of dreams, always poised between earth and sky , in an impregnable time, in a Palermo with an eternal night, where past and future coincide in an infinite present; Totò and Vicè feed each other, because only if they are two, only if they are the two of them can they be able to be. A poetic and moving text that offers countless ideas to reaffirm that the mirage exists: the mirage of a theater, the real theater, the one that takes your breath away with nothing; the theater that does not distinguish between the living and the dead; the theater that gets out of hand and teaches you the mystery of love. Director Giuseppe Cutino: “Totò e Vicè is the theater that stages that humanity that always lives in dim light but on the stage shows the unbearable light of happiness, which makes the reality that surrounds you seem worn and ephemeral. A reality that today more than ever has the need to regain possession of the spirituality of death ”.

Also included in the recovery of memory are “Ferrovecchio” by Rino Marino (February 25) with Fabrizio Ferracane and Marino himself, who tell the story of Orazio Di Grazia, the old man who pushed the bike that the people of Catania remember well, and “The song di Orlando ”by and with Giovanni Calcagno on stage on 25 March.
Sergio Zinna, artistic director of Zō: «The intertwining of music, circus arts, theater and stage action at a dramatic level always makes it clear what is multidisciplinary, which does not mean a billboard divided into separate sections». Pamela Toscano, Zō project manager: “Multidisciplinarity means that there is an intersection of disciplines. If we talk about music in a theater show it should not be understood as an accompaniment or soundtrack but as a level in itself of the dramaturgy. A strong example is the show “The feelings of the pig” by Licia Lanera in which there is an orchestra on stage, a show inspired by Mayakovsky but in a punk rock version “. A return from Zō, on December 17, for the Bari-based actress after the success of Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” last year, the second step in the trilogy “Look how it snows”, dedicated to the Russian writers Bulgakov, Mayakovskij and Cechov.

Tuscan: “This is a season that focuses on the themes of the excluded, of rights, of social cases. “Totò e Vicè” does so, also in Licia Lanera’s “The feelings of the pig” on stage there are two outcast actors who speak of suicide, almost in perpetual memory of the historic marginal role of the actors “. In the circus arts show “Clown in liberty” (scheduled for December 4) by the Parma company Teatro Necessario, the multidisciplinary level is very strong as Leonardo Adorni, Jacopo Maria Bianchini and Alessandro Mori are both actors, jugglers and musicians. Tuscan: “A little bit of a clown and a little bit of Pierrot they too stage, in both an ironic and a melancholy key, stories of people on the margins “.

“Uno strappo” (11 March) by and with the Randazzese actor Ture Magro, who has always been active on texts inspired by news events, is a denunciation of bullying. “Ecce Robot!”, By and with Daniele Timpano (April 22) is the ironic tale of a generation that, unaware of living in the years of lead, grew up among steel robots. The peak show of the season is undoubtedly “The deceived simplicity” (January 21) by and with the Friulian actress Marta Cuscunà, who speaks very strongly of rights. Tuscan: “Set in a sixteenth-century monastery of Poor Clares, it obviously deals with the rights of women who were then forced into monastic life if they could not find a husband, but which points the finger at the still prevailing patriarchal culture. She does it in a very strong way, using puppets that she builds herself “.

“Our effort is to bring the leading names of the new Italian research theater even if the Sicilian public does not yet know them – underlines Sergio Zinna -. Even today, however, this effort is not recognized by Furs, the single regional fund for entertainment, of the Sicilian Region which, unlike what the Ministry of Culture does, only finances theatrical production activities and not programming activities. Indeed, the Sicilian Region has further financed some excellences of production, forgetting as always the excellences like ours on multidisciplinary programming, the only one recognized in Italy by the Ministry of Culture ”.

The AltreScene 2022-2023 calendar
5 November 2022, 9 pm: “Totò e Vicè”, opera set to music for shadows and voices by Franco Scaldati, adapted and directed by Giuseppe Cutino
4 December 2022, 6 pm: “Clown in liberty” by Teatro Necessario, by and with Leonardo Adorni, Jacopo Maria Bianchini, Alessandro Mori
December 17, 2022, 9 pm: “Look how it snows 3. The feelings of the pig”, Compagnia Licia Lanera with Danilo Giuva and Licia Lanera
21 January 2023, 9 pm: “The deceived simplicity” by and with Marta Cuscunà
February 25, 2023, 9 pm: “Ferrovecchio” by Rino Marino, with Fabrizio Ferracane and Rino Marino
March 11, 2023, 9 pm: “Uno strappo” by and with Ture Magro
March 25, 2023, 9 pm: “La Canzone di Orlando” by and with Giovanni Calcagno
April 22, 2023, 9 pm: “Ecce Robot!”, Compagnia Frosini / Timpano by and with Daniele Timpano

Information
Until November 5, debut day, the season ticket costs € 90. For students, the season ticket costs € 45 to be subscribed, from Monday to Friday from 10 to 13, in the headquarters of Zō, at piazzale Rocco Chinnici 6 , info and reservations tel. 0958168912, e-mail Biglietteria@zoculture.it.