New books by Fernando Mastropasqua

“La strana pietà del signor Bertolt Brecht e altre malinconie teatrali” and “Teatro provincia dell’uomo” are the two books by Fernando Mastropasqua that we will present next week. The  first is a book that aims to look at the theater from a particular perspective: ignoring the chronological succession, taking into consideration those moments in which the theater has shown life in its ephemeral and senseless essence, with that ironic and thoughtful melancholy that had distinguished the creations of Ettore Petrolini in Variety. The attitude, shared by Brecht, an intense presence in Karl Valentin’s cabaret, originates in the severe and sorrowful gaze of Sophocles. This is why the essay on Brecht’s Pietà, on the harsh suffering of the silent scream of Mother Courage opens the itinerary. The second book is inspired, in its title and method, by the book by Elias Canetti, “La provincia dell’uomo”. The volume consists of two parts. In the first some fundamental moments in the history of the theater are taken into consideration, such as the Greek theater and the Elizabethan theater, and some innovative theories, from Craig to Stanislavkij, in which the actor’s research is aimed at giving a symbolic or realistic image , of human nature, in its truth and in its fragility. A fragment, taken from the Living Theater’s Antigone, illuminates the discourse. The second part is dedicated to the reconstruction of the text and of Carmelo Bene’s video-work, Hommelette for Hamlet, in which echoes of Shakespeare’s and Laforgue’s Hamlet are reflected, based on the vision of the Lacanian Man. The reconstruction is accompanied by a detailed commentary on all the situations in which the protagonist, a strange cemetery Hamlet surrounded by statues by Bernini who come to life and participate in the representation, finds himself involved.

Fernando Mastropasqua is the director of series Theatre for Prinp Publishing. Former professor of Theater History at the Universities of Pisa, Trento and Turin, has dealt with parties, ancient masks, carnivals, directing. His most recent publications are: “Komos, il riso di Dioniso: Maschera e Sapienza”, Rome, ETL, National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, 1989; “Metamorfosi del teatro”, Naples, ESI, 1998; “In cammino verso Amleto (Craig and Shakespeare)”, Pisa, BFS, 2000; “Teatro Provincia dell’uomo”, Livorno, Frediani, 2004; “La scena rituale”, Rome, Carocci, 2007; collaborates with the magazine “Critica d’Arte”. With Prinp Editore he has published “Un teatro di pezzenti”, 2018, “Teatro provincia dell’uomo”, 2021 and two works together with Ferdinando Falossi: “L’incanto della maschera”, 2014 and “La poesia della maschera”, 2015.

Tuesday 4 April at 12.30 The Presence of Theater in our Dark Lives Presentation of the book “La strana pietà del signor Bertolt Brecht” in the Theater History lesson by Prof. Anna Monteverdi Aula K112 Dipartimento Beni Culturali e Ambientali, via Noto 8, Milano

Friday 7 April at 21.00 T.R.I.P.O.F.O.B.I.A After the theatrical performance of the Ivona company, there will be the presentation of the books “Teatro provincia dell’uomo” and “La strana pietà del signor Bertolt Brecht”. Fernando Mastropasqua in dialogue with Andrea Calvi, Jungian analyst, psychotherapist, teacher and essayist and Dario Salani, editor. OFFICINE CAOS, P.zza Montale 18/a, Turin It is possible to book at this link Officine Caos

Turin welcomes the new Stumbling Blocks by Gunter Demnig

The “Museo diffuso della Resistenza, della Deportazione, della Guerra, dei Diritti e della Libertà” of Turin – in collaboration with the Jewish Community of Turin, the National Association of Ex Deported Persons (Aned) – Turin section and the Goethe Institut Turin – for the ninth year, has brought Gunter Demnig’s Stolpersteine to Turin, a European project conceived and created by the German artist to remember the individual victims of Nazi and Fascist deportation. The artist produces small brass plaques set on concrete cubes which are then inserted into the pavement in front of the last home freely chosen by the victim. Each plate bears “He lived here…”, the victim’s name, date and place of birth and death/disappearance. More than 90,000 stones have been laid across Europe.
As in previous years, the students of 10 Turin schools of all levels were actively involved in an educational itinerary created by the Museum in collaboration with the Istoreto (Piedmontese institute for the history of the Resistance and contemporary society “Giorgio Agosti” ) and the ANCR (National Cinematographic Archive of the Resistance), whose conclusion is expected in the month of March, with the staging of public events. Also for this edition, the educational path has the support of the Polo del ‘900 as an integrated teaching project.
For the occasion, an important book was produced dedicated to the German artist Gunter Demnig and his stumbling blocks, a widespread and shared monument for Europe. To remember the victims of Nazi fascism, the artist produces small brass plaques placed on stone cubes that are set into the pavement in front of the last home freely chosen by the victim. The Albertina Academy of Fine Arts, after having accepted the candidacy by the Widespread Museum of the Resistance of Deportation, War, Rights and Freedom of Turin, conferred the title of Academician of Honor on Gunter Demnig on 12 January 2022. The volume contains the acts, speeches and essays produced on the occasion of the ceremony and as a reflection on the artistic project.

Find out more on the book page:

Book launch
IL SOGNO. Poesia di Grazia Valente, opere di Chen Li.
Prinp Editore, 2022

With Grazia Valente and Chen Li

“Il sogno” is a real artist’s book created by four hands by the artist Chen Li with poems by Grazia Valente.
“The dream” belongs to our reality, both in relation to psychic activity, which occurs during sleep, and in the more prosaic one of aspiration, desire often relegated to the sphere of the impossible. “The dream” can also be considered as a protected area, an interior space to be guarded and preserved, a place to wait for an event that often appears nebulous and difficult to decipher, but which we do not want to give up.
In these compositions, drawn from various collections published since 2012, the theme of the dream has been declined in various ways, depending on the mood at the time of inspiration. And often with an ironic streak, characteristic of my way of understanding – and doing – poetry.

WHEN: Friday November 4 2022 at 18.00

WHERE: libreria MilleOOLP – Via dei Mille 30 / D, Turin

Teatro provincia dell’uomo si ispira, nel titolo e nel metodo, al libro di Elias Canetti, La provincia dell’uomo. Vengono dapprima presi in considerazione alcuni momenti fondamentali della sto- ria del teatro, come il teatro greco e il teatro elisabettiano, e alcune teorie innovative: da Craig a Stanislavkij al Living Theatre. La seconda parte è dedicata alla ricostruzione del testo e del- l’opera-video di Carmelo Bene, Hommelette for Hamlet, nella quale si riflettono echi dell’Amleto di Shakespeare e di quello di Laforgue.
La ricostruzione è accompagnata da un dettagliato commento di tutte le situazioni, in cui il protagonista, uno strano Amleto cimiteriale attorniato da statue del Bernini che prendono vita e partecipano alla rappresentazione, si trova coinvolto.

Oltre all’autore interverranno
Marco Gobetti, attore
Carla Pagliero, docente di storia dell’arte
Domenico Castaldo, direttore del LabPerm
Ginevra Giachetti, attrice del LabPerm
Dario Salani, editore

Evento parte di E/State in Svincoli
sostenuto dalla Fondazione per la Cultura di Torino
nell’ambito del bando Torino a Cielo Aperto

Evento parte del progetto “Contagi Generativi”
con il contributo del Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali
in collaborazione con Regione Piemonte

QUANDO: 24 giugno 2021
Ore 18.30
DOVE: San Pietro in Vincoli Zona Teatro,
Via San Pietro in Vincoli 28, Torino