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Leonardo Lidi
Il giardino dei ciliegi
Progetto Čechov – Terza tappa
Immersed in the futility of our garden.
Leonardo Lidi returns to Festival dei Due Mondi with The Cherry Orchard for the final leg of his trilogy dedicated to Anton Čechov, also presented in full on Sunday, July 7.
"Reading Anton Čechov's text," Lidi says, "it has always seemed obvious to me (and perhaps I have always been wrong) that our garden is synonymous with our theater. And having had the Čechov project a political validity from its inception, from the post-pandemic re-entry with Il gabbiano to questioning how to restart in the encounter with the audience, it seems stimulating to me to close the circle with this text so profound in its questions."
Leonardo Lidi leads the viewer into a garden/theater that now lives only in the memory of its performers. A useless garden, our public theater, that can safely be torn down to in favor of a parking lot.
"If the only thought is self-defeating accumulation and squeezing the people next to to us" - comments the director - "if we believe in this form of slavery in the new millennium, if we stop caring about the quality of our lives through the quality of the lives of others, then I wonder what we are doing, still, on a stage. And the actors wonder too, abandoned over time to having to self-assert the value of their work. We have forgotten about them."
Here is the last image Chekhov leaves behind in Garden's finale of a life spent on the theater. A person who has served other people throughout his existence, no ifs and buts, forgotten. He says to himself, or to the theater he is occupying ...You have no strength left, you have nothing left at all, nothing.... Eh, good to nothing...
Then a tragic violin string to fill the scene.
By Anton Čechov
directed by Leonardo Lidi
Characters and performers
Ljubov' Andreevna Francesca Mazza
Anja, her daughter Giuliana Vigogna
Varja, his adopted daughter Ilaria Falini
Lenja Andreevna, sister of Ljubov' Orietta Notari
Ermolaj Alekseevic Lopakhin Mario Pirrello
Peter Sergeevic Trofimov Christian La Rosa
Boris Borisovic Simeonov-Piscik Giordano Agrusta
Charlotta Ivanovna Maurizio Cardillo
Semen Panteleevic Epichodov Massimiliano Speziani
Dunja Angela Malfitano
Firs Tino Rossi
Jasa Alfonso De Vreese
scenes and lighting Nicolas Bovey
costumes Aurora Damanti
sound Franco Visioli
assistant director Alba Porto
production Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria
in co-production with Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi
Please be advised that dates and times may be subject to change.
See www.festivaldispoleto.com for updates.
September 1903. Anton Chekhov tries in vain to finish drafting The Cherry Orchard as symptoms of tuberculosis wear him down. He is weak, struggling to to breathe. "I'm always half sick," he writes to his wife Olga, "I hurt my legs, my back, I cough." When he manages to to write, however, the past and the future seem to merge as if by alchemy.
Text by Maddalena Giovannelli
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Here is the past: the house in which the events of the Garden are set contains memories of the large estate in Melichovo where Čechov grew up and which from not long sold to a lumber builder. The memory of the old closets, of the dust that like time settles inexorably on objects, of the path that runs through the trees "like a ribbon that shines on moonlit nights" spills softly onto the page. Then there is the future: the playwright keeps to running with his thoughts to the time when he will send the play to the Art Theatre and when rehearsals will begin. And then he foreshadows the debut to Moscow, when those words he now laboriously jots down on paper will become bodies and life. He knows well - all too well - the actors and actresses who will play the characters he has been imagining for months. One is his wife: Olga will play the lead Ljuba "since no one else could." But the rest of the cast also continues to to think, giving directions by letter, scattering the script with little clues, dissuading and suggesting: and those clues will be worth taking into account even today, when reading and watching the Garden.
The merchant Lopakhin, to to whom the play's first line is addressed, is a good example. At the end of the first act, when the viewer has come to know the splendors and miseries of the cherry orchard estate and has plunged with the owner Ljuba into bittersweet nostalgia for a time long past, here is Lopakhin putting forward his proposal to counter the economic crisis looming over the house: divide the land "into many small plots to build many cottages on it" because "one can be sure that the holidaymakers will increase." It is hard to feel sympathy for such a worldview, which seems to brand as useless everything that does not bring profit, from art to cherry jam; it is also hard to imagine that such cold pragmatism appealed to the author, who just to a merchant had just sold his beloved Melichovo. Yet Chekhov warns us against the temptation to read the character as a pure personification of capitalism, or as a cruel and unambiguous paean to the laws of the market.
to end of October, shortly after finally sending the script, he writes a letter to the actor he loves most in the company, Konstantin Stanislavsky, and shares with him his desire to entrust him with an "artistic Lopakhin": "he is a merchant, it is true; but he is a person worthy of all regard; he must behave with all propriety, from educated person, without pettiness." In reality, things will turn out differently, and for a variety of reasons to Stanislavsky will touch the listless Gaev, Ljuba's brother; Lopakhin will instead be played from Leonid Leonidov, although about him Chekhov had advanced the concern that he only gives body to a "petty profiteer." Going through the thicket of discussions and casting problems that flourished in late 1903 and early 1904 is not only a way to learn about small and tasty historiographical curiosities; rather, it is an opportunity to allow oneself to be suggested new interpretive perspectives, useful for not being tempted by simplifications.
Those who write for the theater or are involved in directing (as well as the attentive theater observer) know that the physicality of the performer alone-as well as his human quality, his posture in the world, his way of speaking-contributes significantly to delineating the stature and characteristics of a character. Sometimes even to change its contours, or to reveal aspects of it left silent by tradition.
Leonardo Lidi, a director always attentive to the composition of the cast, and able to tune like a conductor the tones of actors and actresses with very different ages and experiences, is well aware of all this. With The Cherry Orchard, Lidi arrives at his third Chekhovian direction, made-just as was the case at the Art Theatre-with an almost identical ensemble. It so happens (the Festival audience that will go through the entire trilogy on Sunday, July 7, will be able to happily witness it) that one finds oneself to recognizing the same performer in the different performances, and to relishing the metamorphic changes; just as it is inevitable that the overlapping roles prove to be bearers of meaning. The characters and actors seem in a sense to overflow from one to the other opera into the imagination of the writer, the director and the audience. Leonardo Lidi, just like Čechov, likes to work on contrasts, creating small cracks between what is said about a person and what appears instead as sensitive truth in the eyes of the audience. The men they all lose their heads over, for example (the literary man Trigorin in the Il gabbiano or the doctor Astrov in Zio Vanja, respectively played from Massimiliano Speziani and Mario Pirrello) appear in Lidi's directions ungainly, neglected, not at all attractive. It will be up to to us to draw our own conclusions, rethinking to how many times fallings in love and fascinations blind us, or have to more to do with the person looking than with the object of feeling. Or again: women who are rejected and call themselves ugly (Masha in The Seagull or Sonja in Zio Vanja, Ilaria Falini and Giuliana Vigogna respectively) do not appear as such to us at all. But how much can our self-perception affect the way we are looked at? And does it define us more by the social mask we wear, our physical appearance, or who we really are? It will be worthwhile, then, to carefully observe the bodies that populate The Cherry Orchard, to never rely solely on verbal texture and peremptory statements (especially if they concern those who utter them), but to poke around in the very gaps between what we see and what we hear. Every human being - we are reminded of the Chekhovian trilogy in Lidi's intelligent rereading - is a creature full of contradictions, and locking him or her into a definition (be it "petty profiteer" or "charming scholar") is a vain and doomed effort. They tell that Chekhov was a keen observer of the everyday. It happened to see him - Stanislavsky reports this in his Autobiography - light up with excitement in spying on the comings and goings of a post office across the street, or the slow movements necessary for fishing. It is not difficult, reading his texts, to imagine what struck his fancy: all those small gestures that reveal us in our greatnesses and awkwardnesses. Sometimes, Chekhov seems to imply, one sees better in distance than in intimacy. That strange and wonderful paradox whereby, when we stop to observe a stranger carefully at a bus stop, we discover that we know a great deal about his desires and fears.
Giordano Domenico Agrusta
Born in 1984 to Grottaglie in the province of Taranto. After graduation he left for Milan where he studied Philosophy and specialized in Cognitive Neuroscience. After finishing his studies, he moved to Terni in 2008 to study acting with Gastone Moschin, Emanuela Moschin and Marzia Ubaldi. He founded the Malabranca Teatro company with Daniele Menghini, Ludovico Rohl and Cristina Daniele. In 2015 he joined to the actors company of the Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria. He works with Danilo Nigrelli, Michele Placido, Andrea Baracco. He collaborates with several private companies and theatrical production bodies, including Marche Teatro, Teatri di Roma, Teatro alla Scala. He is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Leonardo Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Maurizio Cardillo
Sicilian, he is an actor and author. He has worked as an actor with Teatro dell'Elfo, Teatri di Vita, Teatro Stabile di Bologna, Teatro Stabile di Bolzano, ErosAntEros and has been directed from Elena Bucci, Gigi Dall'Aglio, Luigi Gozzi, Renato Carpentieri, Paolo Billi and others. From 2007 to the present he has participated to numerous shows of the company Le Belle Bandiere, a formation with which he continues to to collaborate. From 2010 to the present, he has collaborated frequently, as actor and author, with Tra un Atto e l'altro by Francesca Mazza and Angela Malfitano and Liberty by Elena di Gioia. For the Concert Society of Parma he wrote and directed Lettera to my father (from Kafka) with Ugo Pagliai. He is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Leonardo Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Alfonso De Vreese
He was born to Modena in 1992. He graduated in 2017 from the Luca Ronconi School of Theater of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan after training at the School of Theater to. G. Garrone and ERT's Advanced Training Course. He works with Longhi, Muscato, Condemi, Cabra, Michieletto, Sangati, Romano, Granata, among others. He is directed in Uomini e no, Macbeth, le cose nascoste and La pulce nell'orecchio from Rifici, in Misanthrope and Come nei giorni migliori from Leonardo Lidi, in Sogno di una notte di mezza estate from Chiodi and in Il ragazzo dell'ultimo banco from Gassmann. In film he worked with director Wright in the filming of M the Son of the Century for Sky Studios. In 2019 he won the Scenario Award with Una vera tragedia by Favaro and Bandini and in 2022 the Mariangela Melato Award as best emerging actor. In 2024 he is in the cast of The Cherry Orchard, the third stage of the Čechov Project directed from Lidi.
Ilaria Falini
A graduate of the University Theater Center of Perugia with masters including Flaszen, Bogdanov, Karpov and Ferrero, she continued her training with directors Schiavelli, Pezzoli, Santagata and Ronconi under whose direction she attended the Course of Excellence at the Santa Cristina Theater Center. She has worked in various productions directed by directors Bruschetta, Carpentieri, Le Moli, Pepe and Dini, among others. In 2021 she plays Kristine in the play La signorina Giulia directed by Leonardo Lidi, a TSU production, which premiered at the 64th edition of Festival dei Due Mondi. She is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Leonardo Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
ChristianLa Rosa
He graduated in 2012 from the school for actors of the Teatro Stabile of Turin, then attended the international theater workshop directed from L. Ronconi. In theater he works with, among others, C. Rifici, V. Malosti, M. Sgorbani, to.Chiodi, L. Ferracchiati. In 2016 he is in Santa Estasi. Atrides: eight family portraits directed from to . Latella and in Qualcuno che tace directed by L.Lidi. With the role of Pinocchio (Latella) in 2017 he wins the UBU as best actor under 35 and the ANCT award. In 2018 he is in Spectres (Lidi); in 2019/20 in La valle dell'Eden (Latella) and in The Dead City (Lidi). He stars in Animali domestici of to. Mingarelli in 2021 and returns with Lidi for Strindberg's La signorina Giulia and Molière's The Misanthrope. He is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Leonardo Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
AngelaMalfitano
Actress and director, she began to working with Leo De Berardinis, her teacher, to followed by Thierry Salmon, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Claudio Morganti, Dario Fo, Andrea Adriatico, Fabrizio Arcuri, Marco Sgrosso, Marco Baliani, Mimmo Sorrentino, Mattew Lenton. He won the Young European Artists Award in 1992. In 1999 he founded Tra un atto e l'altro with Francesca Mazza and directs productions and reviews also in the areas of social and gender culture. He curates theater projects with networks of artists and collaborates as a lecturer with Unipv and Unibo. He produces contemporary dramaturgy and on outstanding figures of the territory with Regione Emilia Romagna, Città Metropolitana di Bologna and Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione. He is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Leonardo Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Francesca Mazza
A graduate of the School directed from Alessandra Galante Garrone, from 1983 to 1995 she worked in Leo de Berardinis' shows. Later, among others, she worked with the company Fanny & Alexander, with Teatri di Vita, with Accademia degli Artefatti, with Teatro Stabile del Veneto, Teatro Stabile di Roma, Teatro Stabile di Torino, ERT Emilia Romagna Teatri, Radiotre Rai. She won the Ubu Award as best supporting actress for the 2004/2005 season. In 2010 she won the Ubu Award as best leading actress with West and the Ravenhill Project shows Shoot/Find the Treasure/Repeat. She was directed from Leonardo Lidi in Molière's La casa di Bernarda Alba and Il misantropo. She is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
OriettaNotari
She has acted in many plays by major authors of classical and contemporary drama, including Shakespeare, Moliere, Sophocles, Racine, Ibsen, Labiche, Brecht, Chekhov, Pirandello, Beckett, Pinter, Fassbinder, Topor, and Fosse. She has been directed by from Besson, Ronconi, Sciaccaluga, Stuhr, Bruni and De Capitani, Arias, Binasco and Dini, among others. In 2006 she was nominated for the UBU Award as supporting actress; in 2016 she won the ANCT Award; in 2019 she was nominated for the Le Maschere del Teatro Award as supporting actress. In 2020/21 she worked in La casa di Bernarda Alba directed by Lidi, Molly Sweeney and Il piacere dell'onestà directed by Binasco and Casa di bambola directed by Dini. He is in the cast of The Chekhov Project directed from Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
MarioPirrello
He graduated in 1997 from the school of Teatro Stabile di Torino directed from Ronconi. to theater among others he collaborates with Martone, Longhi, Avogadro, Malosti, Lavia, Arcuri, di Mauro, Lagi, Pisano, Lenton, Pitoiset, Bausch. In 2018 he is among the performers in Spectres, the winning show of the Venice Biennale College Directors, directed from Leonardo Lidi, with whom he also collaborates the following year in Lo zoodi Vetro from Williams and in 2020 in La città morta from D'Annunzio. In Cinema he is directed from Giordana in Yara, from Godano in Marilyn ha gli occhi neri, from Argento for Occhiali neri and from Sollima for Adagio. For television, among his latest works are Il Commissario Ricciardi (D'Alatri), Esterno Notte (Bellocchio), Il Circeo (Molaioli), Suburra (Capotondi), SuperSex (Rovere). He is in the cast of The Chekhov Project directed from Lidi: Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Tino Rossi
Born in 1955 in the province of Piacenza, he began to doing theater in 1980 to Cremona with a local company. In 1987 he started to his own company Quarta Parete, still active today, collaborating with other companies in the area. In 1993 he graduates as a voice actor at the Centro Teatro Attivo in Milan. He takes part to in numerous theater stages, among many: with Carmelo Rifici, Cesar Brie, Armando Punzo, Serena Sinigaglia, Massimo Popolizio, Salvatore La Ruina and Michele Di Mauro. He has collaborated to plays with Carmelo Rifici and Leonardo Lidi and has taken part in a number of films, including a film by Marco Bellocchio. He is in the cast of the Čechov Project directed from Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja(2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Massimiliano Speziani
Hystrio Award for Interpretation 2018. Acted directed by, among others, from Giancarlo Cobelli, Luca Ronconi, Massimo Castri, Antonio Latella, Federico Tiezzi, Mario Martone, Carmelo Rifici. He has worked with Alfonso Santagata's Katzenmacher company with which he received the Ubu in 1997. Self produces Il Memorioso. A Brief Guide to the Memory of the Good, which he replicates from ten years. Since 2000 the association with playwrights Gabrielli and Molinari. During the lockdown he creates the Teatro in Condominio experience and No Miracle to Milano text by Gabrielli is born. Among his most recent works as an actor: The Tragedy of the Avenger (Donnellan) The Valley of Eden (Latella), Combatants (Gabrielli/Ammendola), Child Duck Chronicles (Dall'Aglio). He is in the cast of The Chekhov Project directed from Lidi: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Giuliana Vigogna
She graduated in 2014 from the Silvio d'Amico Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome; she then attended the advanced training course at the Centro Teatrale Santacristina and the specialization course at the Teatro di Roma. In 2016 Antonio Latella chose her for Santa Estasi (Ubu prize for best show and best group of actors under 30). She collaborates with ERT for The Book of Job directed by P. Babina and 1984 directed from M. Lenton; in 2018 she is Daphne in Latella's Aminta. In 2019 she begins her collaboration with Leonardo Lidi for: Il dito, La città morta and Il lampadario, La casa di Bernarda Alba, La signorina Giulia, Il Misantropo . In 2022 she is a finalist nominee for the Ubu Awards for Best Actress or Performer Under 35. She is in the cast of The Chekhov Project: Il gabbiano (2022), Zio Vanja (2023), The Cherry Orchard (2024).
He graduated from the School of the Teatro Stabile of Turin in 2012. In his path he alternates between acting and theater directing. In these first ten years of directing work he stands out for his ability and productivity, winning to just 32 years old the Italian theater critics' award. Since September 2021 he has been teaching coordinator of the school of the Teatro Stabile di Torino and since 2022 Artistic Director of the San Ginesio Festival. Among the shows from he directed are. Spettri di Ibsen (Venice Biennale 2018), Williams' The Glass Zoo, Lorca's La casa di Bernarda Alba , D'Annunzio's La città morta, Strindberg's La signorina Giulia (Festival dei Due Mondi 2021) and Molière's Il Misantropo. He also works on contemporary drama texts and inopera opera. In 2022 together with the Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria he begins a trilogy on Anton Čechov. First stage of the three-year project is. Il gabbiano. In the same year he is a finalist candidate for the Ubu Prize for Best Director with La signorina Giulia. In 2023 he directs . Zio Vanja, the second stage of the Čechov Project, a play with which he is a finalist candidate for best director at the Ubu 2023. The last chapter of the trilogy is The Cherry Orchard (2024).
Leonardo Lidi
Leonardo Lidi
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Antonio Latella
