Quasi niente

An incursion into the heart of invisible lives. A benevolent look at humanity by the Italian artists Daria Deflorian and Antonio Tagliarini made a strong impression at the FTA in 2016. They are back again, inspired by the mythical Antonioni film Red Desert. Playing the role of the alienated Giuliana was the sublime Monica Vitti, wandering through the city and through life, hovering on the margins of society. A woman adrift.

Five actors delicately depict this tale of mystifying melancholy, interspersed with their own personal stories. Discreet ghosts in a barren, despoiled landscape, their ages are different but the desert is always the same. How do you approach the other when you yourself are falling apart? In the face of that bleak, pathetic state of affairs, humour emerges. Between madness and melancholy, malaise seems to be a strikingly modern response to a world that insists on increased productivity but that is devoid of conscience or scruples. We cling to the slightest of tangibles–a chair, a memory. Next to nothing.

Produced by Daria Deflorian + Antonio Tagliarini
Loosely based on the movie Red Desert by Michelangelo Antonioni
Performed by Francesca Cuttica + Daria Deflorian + Monica Piseddu + Benno Steinegger + Antonio Tagliarini
Dramaturgy Collaborator and Assistant Director Francesco Alberici
Project Collaborators Francesca Cuttica + Monica Piseddu + Benno Steinegger
Artistic Advisor Attilio Scarpellini
Lighting and Space Design Gianni Staropoli
Sound Design Leonardo Cabiddu
Live Music WoW (Leonardo Cabiddu + Francesca Cuttica)
Costume Design Metella Raboni
Translation and French surtitles Federica Martucci
Technical Director Giulia Pastore
Organisation Anna Damiani
Support and International Touring Francesca Corona + Giulia Galzigni – L’Officina

Production A.D. (Rome) + Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale (Rome) + Teatro Metastasio di Prato + Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione (Modena)
Coproduction Théâtre Garonne – Scène européenne (Toulouse) + Romaeuropa Festival (Rome) + Festival d’Automne à Paris + Théâtre de la Bastille (Paris) + LuganoInScena -LAC (Lugano) + Théâtre de Grütli (Geneva) + La Filature, Scène nationale (Mulhouse)
With the support of Institut Culturel Italien de Paris + Arboreto – Teatro Dimora de Mondaino (Modena) + Fit Festival (Lugano)

Presented by Hôtel Monville in association with Usine C + Festival du nouveau cinéma

Written by Diane Jean
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at Lugano Arte e Cultura, on October 2, 2018