Luca Ronconi returns to Spoleto for the fifth time. An intense collaboration, strongly desired by artistic director Giorgio Ferrara, who sees, in the constant presence at the Festival of the great director, with his extraordinary creative force, an indispensable contribution to restore to this event its highest meaning.

With the beginning of the collaboration between the Santacristina Theater Center and Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Ronconi presented, as part of the festival, a series of open lectures on Ibsen in 2008, a study on Chekhov's Seagull entitled Another Seagull in 2009, staged Spregelburd's Modesty in 2011 and In Search of an Author in 2012. A Study of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters ," a show that was born from a three-year project with the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica "Silvio d'Amico" and which, after its successful debut to Spoleto, landed in October 2012 at the Piccolo Teatro Studio in Milan.

In line with the link between training and production of performances, which characterizes from always the Santacristina Theater Center, this year Ronconi, brings to the stage Pornography, a text that was the subject of study during the August-September 2012 workshop, an occasion in which a theatrical reduction of the novel divided into ten scenes was born. The show is produced by Centro Teatrale Santacristina in co-production with Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

to bring to the stage the two protagonists are Riccardo Bini and Paolo Pierobon, two established actors who have shared the success of many of Ronconi's shows, accompanied from a group of actors such as Ivan Alovisio, Loris Fabiani, Lucia Marinsalta, Michele Nani, Franca Penone, Valentina Picello and Francesco Rossini, some of whom were already involved in the 2012 Santacristina workshop.

Luca Ronconi with Pornography by Witold Gombrowicz once again tackles the stage realization of a'opera non-theatrical. The Maestro always remains faithful to the word, to the author's text: it is not, in fact, a script of the text, but a transposition, an analytical reading of the novel through the tools that are those of theater, to starting with the actors.

In the director's thinking, the key theme of the novel is what Gombrowicz himself enucleated: "two middle-aged gentlemen are fascinated by meeting a boy and a girl and are surprised by the relative indifference of the two, while they imagine the infinite erotic potential of this couple." At first glance, one might think only of a relationship between old and young, but the relationship that is established between these people, from one side Witold and Frederick and on the other side the young Carlo and Enrichetta, is much more subtle and profound, and absolutely not generational. In fact, the two protagonists enact a real assault on the youth of others, which is something else entirely. We witness the attempt to transform that youth or even to destroy it.

Pornography is a peculiar novel in which the author repeatedly names himself "I," "Witold," "I the writer." Thus he makes himself the protagonist and, at the same time, hides himself in the other figure, Frederick, who accompanies him and drives him to continuous and perverse adventures. The word "pornography" is not actually about the actions, but about Witold's thoughts, which need the character of Federico to represent themselves. For Ronconi, "the real pornographic Voyerism is the one towards oneself, the gaze that everyone dares not turn towards himself, towards his own negative part and reflects it on others."

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WITOLD GOMBROWICZ

Witold Gombrowicz, born to Maloszyce in 1904 and died to Vence in 1969, is considered the greatest Polish writer of the 20th century. He lived to Warsaw until the outbreak of war, then to Buenos Aires. Returning to Europe, he first to Berlin and then France. In Italy his works were published from Feltrinelli to edited by Francesco Cataluccio; along with novels such as Cosmo and Diario, Gombrowicz is known for his plays that were also performed in Italy in the 1960s such as Operetta and Iwona, Princess of Burgundy.

LUCA RONCONI

Born in 1933 to Susa in Tunisia, Luca Ronconi graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome in 1953 and made his debut as an actor in Tre quarti di luna directed by Luigi Squarzina. An actor in shows by Orazio Costa, Giorgio De Lullo and Michelangelo Antonioni, he began in 1963 to working as a director with the company of Corrado Pani and Gianmaria Volontè. It is the extraordinary and highly successful staging in 1969 of Ariosto'sOrlando Furioso, in the elaborate reduction from Edoardo Sanguineti, to brought him international success. Over the years he collaborated with various theatrical institutions: from 1975 to 1977 he was Director of the Theater Section at the Venice Biennale, and between 1977 and 1979 he founded and directed the Prato Theater Design Workshop, where he staged Euripides' Bacchae and von Hofmannsthal's The Tower . In the 1980s, fundamental milestones in Ronconian research, also regarded as unquestionable high points in the history of postwar Italian theater, are Holz's Ignorabimus (1986), Bernanos's Dialogues of the Carmelites (1988) and Chekhov's Three Sisters (1989).

From 1989 to 1994 he was director of the Teatro Stabile di Torino, in 1994 he was appointed director of the Teatro di Roma, and from 1999 to 2010 he was artistic director of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, producing many important shows over the years. He still directs the School for Actors of the Milanese stable. In 2002 he founded with Roberta Carlotto the Centro Teatrale Santacristina, a production and training unit that he directs in the structure created in the countryside between Gubbio and Perugia. In 2006 he is invited to to direct to Turin five shows, which constitute the "Tomorrow Project," promoted on the occasion of the Winter Olympics.

As an opera director, to his frequentation of the "classics" ofopera Italian (Verdi, Bellini, Puccini and, above all, Rossini), and European (Bizet and Wagner), Ronconi accompanies an interesting study of the less traveled territories of musical theater, such as the great season of Italian Baroque (Rossi and Monteverdi) or contemporary operatic production, including Janácek's The Makropulos Case and Britten's The Turn of the Screw. He has also directed television versions of some of his most important shows and is a curator and exhibition designer.

Many shows have won prestigious prizes and awards, such as the VI Europe Prize for Theater at Taormina Arte (April 1998); the UBU Prize as the best shows of their respective theater seasons for "Progetto sogno" in 2000, Lolita in 2001, Infinities in 2002, Professor Bernhardi in 2005 and for "Progetto Domani" in 2006 and, more recently, the National Critics' Prize for "Progetto Lagarce" and the ETI Prize as the best show for Sogno di una notte di mezza estate. He was awarded the "Antonio Feltrinelli" Prize for Theatre Direction by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in 2008 and has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Bologna (1999), Perugia (2003), Urbino (2006) and Venice (2012). As part of the Venice Theatre Biennale, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in August 2012, while in March 2013, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, the Mayor of Milan presented him with the Seal of the City.

MARCO ROSSI

Class of 1961, born to Florence, graduated from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts at the school of Antonio Capuano. He collaborated, as an assistant, with set designer Maurizio Balò. He has created the sets for Luca Ronconi's shows Amor nello specchio by G. B. Andreini (Ferrara, 2002), Peccato che fosse puttana by John Ford (Teatro Farnese in Parma, 2003, co-produced by Piccolo Teatro and also staged at Teatro Studio), Diario privato by Paul Léautaud (Teatro Argentina in Rome, 2005), I soldati by Jakob Lenz (Piccolo Teatro, Teatro Studio, 2005), Inventato di sana pianta, ovvero gli affari del barone Laborde by H. Broch (Piccolo Teatro, Teatro Grassi, 2007, UBU award for best set design), Ithaca by Botho Strauss and L'antro delle ninfe to edited by M. Trevi (project "Odyssey double return," Municipal Theater of Ferrara, September 2007), Just the End of the World, also by Jean-Luc Lagarce, directed by Luca Ronconi (Piccolo Teatro, Teatro Studio, 2009), La modestia by R. Spregelburd (Spoleto Festival, Teatro Caio Melisso, June 2011), Il panico by R. Spregelburd (Piccolo Teatro, Teatro Strehler, 2013).

PAMELA CANTATORE

Architect and light designer, Pamela Cantatore was born to Bari in 1983, where she studied Architecture at the Polytechnic. After graduation, she attends to Milan the Advanced Training Course "Hotel Experience Design". from here, in collaboration with Studio Rossi Cattaneo in Milan she begins to work on design in the field of hospitality to international level, with projects in Russia, Japan and Switzerland and in Italy and with Studio Susanna Antico for the design of light plans in Belgium. In 2010 he approached the world of light thanks to the Master in Lighting Design at Sapienza to Rome and began the fundamental collaboration in this field with the light designer to.J. Weissbard on important projects at Piccolo Teatro in Milan, San Carlo in Naples, Venaria Reale Palace to Turin, Spoleto Festival, Royal Opera House in Oman and Mikhailovsky Theater to San Pietroburgo . Today he lives to Milan and works for theater and architecture. He recently collaborated on the play Buco at the Goldoni Theater in Venice.

RICCARDO BINI

Born to Florence, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1978 he participated in the Theatre Design Workshop in Prato and in the play La torre di Hofmannsthal, directed by Ronconi. Between 1978 and 1984 he follows the first year of the Accademia d'Arte Drammatica "Silvio d'Amico" in Rome and the Bottega dell'Attore directed from Vittorio Gassman, works with Ugo Chiti, Elio De Capitani, Giancarlo Cobelli, Mario Martone, Piero Maccarinelli. Since 1985 he has collaborated with Ronconi participating to many of his plays, including Goldoni's La serva amorosa, Arno Holz's Ignorabimus, O'Neill's Strange Interlude , Hofmannsthal's The Difficult Man, Kraus's The Last Days of Mankind, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure , Capek's The Makropulos Affair, towards "Peer Gynt" from Ibsen, Hugo's Ruy Blas, Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, Savinio's Samuel's Alcesti, then, at the Piccolo Life is a Dream by Calderón de la Barca, for which he won the Ubu Award as best supporting actor in the role of Clarino, Goldoni's I due gemelli veneziani, Bruno's Candelaio, Aristophanes' Rane, Ford's Peccato che era puttana, Andreini's La centaura , Schnitzler's Professor Bernhardi, Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida (at the Stabile di Torino), Goldoni's The Fan , Botho Strass's Ithaca, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jean-Luc Lagarce's Just the End of the World and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice , Edward Bond's Company of Men , Rafael Spregelburd's Panic.

PAUL PIEROBON

A theater, film and television actor, Paolo Pierobon graduated from the Civica Scuola d'Arte Drammatica "Paolo Grassi" in Milan and received the 2004 National Association of Italian Critics award as best emerging actor for the plays Finale di partita by Samuel Beckett (directed by Lorenzo Loris) and Morte accidentale di un anarchico by Dario Fo (directed by Ferdinando Bruni and Elio De Capitani).

In 2008 he plays the role of Levin in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, staged by Eimuntas Nekrosius, and wins the Ubu Award as best supporting actor. In 2009, again with Elio De Capitani, he is Ian in Sarah Kane's Blasted; Luca Ronconi directs him at the Spoleto Festival in a new version of Il gabbiano Chekhov's(Another Seagull) where he plays the writer Trigorin, then, in the 2010/2011 season, in Edward Bond's The Company of Men, at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, in Nora at the rehearsal from "A Doll's House" from Ibsen at the Teatro della Corte in Genoa, in Rafael Spregelburd's Modesty presented at Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, at Mittelfest in Cividale del Friuli and at the Piccolo; in the 2011/12 season entrusts him with the role of Mauler in Brecht's St. Joan of the Slaughterhouses ; in 2013 he is Emilio in Spregelburd's Il panico ancora, also at the Piccolo Teatro. Recent performances include La malattia della famiglia M., written and directed from Fausto Paravidino.

He made his film debut in 1998 in Pompeo, a medium-length film by Paolo Vari and Antonio Bocola. The following year he stars, with Sandra Ceccarelli, in Guarda il cielo (Stella, Sonia, Silvia) by Piergiorgio Gay. In 2005, in Marina Spada's Come l'ombra , he is a Russian professor. He participates to several films by director Federico Rizzo, including 2003's Lievi crepe sul muro di cinta where he plays (from protagonist) an outcast poet, and 2008's Fuga dal call center in a cameo. In the same year he is directed from Marco Bellocchio in Vincere in which he is the fascist Bernardi. Marina Spada also directed him in Il mio domani. On television, he was recently directed from Maurizio Zaccaro in Lo smemorato di Collegno (Avvocato Farinacci) and is among the leads in Squadra antimafia - Palermo oggi. He has a new film coming out, La prima neve by Andrea Segre.

IVAN ALOVISIO

Class of 1982, born to Turin, he graduated from the Piccolo Theatre School in July 2008. During the three-year school period he participated to shows to curated by Enrico D'Amato and Gianfranco de Bosio. Directed from Luca Ronconi, he plays L'opera seria and takes part to in productions such as Carlo Goldoni's Il ventaglio and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 . Also during the three-year period, he worked to shows hosted at Piccolo, including Assassinio nella cattedrale, Il povero Piero and Il re muore directed by Pietro Carriglio. In 2009, again directed from Ronconi, he played the role of Bassanio in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In 2010 he is Stavrogin in Dostoevsky's Demons directed by Peter Stein, UBU Award as best play of the year. At Piccolo he also starred in Settimo-La fabbrica e il lavoro, directed by Serena Sinigaglia (2012) and Shakespeare's Giulio Cesare , directed by Carmelo Rifici. His most recent performances include Macbeth, by Shakespeare, directed by Andrea de Rosa and Zio Vanja, by Chekhov, directed by Emiliano Bronzino, both in 2012. He won the 2008 Hystrio Award for theatrical vocation. For film, he worked with Mario Martone in Noi credevamo (2010), in the independent film Ainom, directed by Lorenzo Ceva Valla and Mario Garofano (2011). For TV, in the episode Una lama di luce of the series based on Andrea Camilleri's novels Il commissario Montalbano, directed by Alberto Sironi (2013).

LORIS FABIANI

Born to Melzo (Milan) in 1983, Loris Fabiani graduated from the "Silvio D'Amico" National Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome in 2008 and won the "2011 UBU Award" as best actor under 30 for the play History Boys directed by Elio De Capitani and Ferdinando Bruni. He works for the Teatro dell'Elfo in Milan, playing Demetrio in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Lockwood in History Boys. He starred in the films Il Grande Sogno and Vallanzasca directed from Michele Placido. With the project "Lunanzio and Lusilla - The Trilogy," from he wrote and directed, he won the "Anna Pancirolli 2010" theater grant. He is responsible for an artistic space at the Fabbrica del Vapore, within the "Academy of Forgotten Play" to Milan. For television he has shot commercials for Sprite, San Pellegrino, Allianz, Sammontana.

DAVIDE FUMAGALLI

Very young, he is in his first major experience in theater.

LUCIA MARINSALTA

Born in 1989, she is a student of the Piccolo Theater School.

In 2012 he took part in Carmelo Rifici's play Giulio Cesare.

MICHELE NANI

Born to Perugia, Michele Nani attended the Piccolo Teatro school in Milan founded and directed from Giorgio Strehler. In 1993 he began his professional career with Strehler himself, who wanted him in Mother Courage of Sarajevo, Lux in tenebris, La grande magia and Il Temporale. Upon Strehler's death, after a summer participation at the Spoleto Festival in 1997 in The Poor Man's Lamb, directed by Franco Però, he met Luca Ronconi who called him to to perform several of his shows staged between Perugia (Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria) and the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, including Memorie di una cameriera, Il Sogno, Quel che sapeva Maisie, Peccato che era puttana, Le Baccanti, Le Rane and Il Professor Bernhardi, until 2006. Between 1999 and 2009 he also worked with Gigi Proietti in Socrates, with Giuseppe Manzari in Gorgo di terra, with Nicola Russo in Storia di Ermengarda, with Stefano Alleva in In alto mare, and with Roberto Valerio at the Teatro di Pistoia in the play Il vantone di Pier Paolo Pasolini.

FRANCA PENONE

Franca Penone graduated from the school of the Teatro Stabile di Torino directed from Luca Ronconi where she studied with, among others, Marisa Fabbri, Mauro Avogadro, Franca Nuti, Claudia Giannotti. During his theatrical activity he has collaborated with directors such as Mario Missiroli(Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, Teatro di Roma), Claudio Longhi(La peste, La folle giornata o il matrimonio di Figaro, Teatro Stabile di Torino), Walter Le Moli(Antigone, Didone, Gli incostanti, Teatro Stabile di Torino), Ninni Bruschetta(Che farai fra Jacopone, Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria), Luca Ronconi (under whose direction he took part in to shows including Peer Gynt, Diario di una cameriera, Lolita, I due gemelli veneziani, La centaura, Lo specchio del diavolo) and Peter Stein(I demoni) and Mario Martone(Operette morali) . From 2006 to 2008 she was a member of the company of Permanent Actors created by the synergy between Teatro Due in Parma, Teatro di Roma, Teatro Stabile di Torino. She graduated with honors in Women's History from the University of Turin. In the 2011-2012 season she was on stage with G. Leopardi's Operette morali directed by M. Martone.

VALENTINA PICELLO

He graduated in 2002 from the Piccolo Teatro School in Milan. She participates to several shows by Luca Ronconi: Life is a Dream, by Calderón de la Barca, Lolita by Nabokov, Phoenix by Cvetaeva, Infinities by mathematician John Bwarrow, and The Panic, by Rafael Spregelburd. In 2003 he won the Hystrio Award for Vocation. He plays Brutus in Societas Raffaello Sanzio's Julius Caesar. She works with Emma Dante, Paolo Rossi, Teatro della Tosse, Claudio Autelli, Vitaliano Trevisan, Fabrizio Parenti, Carlo Cerciello. Renzo Martinelli directs her in Incendi by W. Mouawad, Lotta di negro e cani by B. M. Koltès and Maria by to. Nine. She is a finalist for the Virginia Reiter Prize in 2011. Roberto Rustioni directed her in Three Single Acts from Anton Chekhov in 2012. She has also worked with the Compagnia Carrozzeria Orfeo. She is a member of the Idiot Savant company in Milan.

FRANCESCO "BOLO" ROSSINI

Born to Perugia, Francesco Rossini trained at the Scuola del Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria. In the 1980s he made his first experiences with the Compagnia Fontemaggiore directed from Giampiero Frondini and obtained his first awards (ETI Scenario Prize in 1991) with the group Area Piccola, from he founded in the Umbrian city. In the following years are important experiences in Milan at Piccolo Teatro with Paolo Rossi and Giampiero Solari and with Teatro dell'Elfo directed from Elio De Capitani and Ferdinando Bruni. In the second half of the 1990s he met Luca Ronconi, with whom he worked on several shows, not least the productions for the XX Winter Olympic Games Turin 2006. He tackled major roles such as Hamlet, Woyzeck and other problematic characters, and comic roles such as Harlequin or certain Shakespearean "fools." Thus were born collaborations with artists such as David Riondino and Dario Vergassola or musicians, classical and otherwise, for a series of interplay experiences ranging from reading to improvisation. He also works for the cinema, with directors such as Liliana Cavani and Pupi Avati, and for television, in several series(Elisa di Rivombrosa, La Squadra, R.I.S., Terapia d'urgenza, Rex).The show is performed in the historic Francesco Torti Theater in Bevagna, which is located inside the Palazzo dei Consoli and is decorated by painters Domenico Bruschi and Mariano Piervittori.