Founded by Stefano Vaccara

Subscribe for only $6/Year
  • Login
  • Register

Editor in Chief: Giampaolo Pioli

VNY La Voce di New York

The First Italian English Digital Daily in the US

English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro

  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Entertainment
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY
  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Entertainment
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY La Voce di New York
No Result
View All Result
in
Arts
October 10, 2016
in
Arts
October 10, 2016
0

Drama or No-Drama? RezzaMastrella’s Art to Land at La MaMa

Interview with the performer and the visual artist that brought revolution in Italian theaters

Fabrizio RostellibyFabrizio Rostelli
antonio rezza flavia mastrella new york
Time: 7 mins read

LEGGI UNA VERSIONE DI QUESTA INTERVISTA (con video) IN ITALIANO


Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella will shortly land in New York. The Italian art duo will perform their original play Pitecus at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village on October 13-16. Pitecus first premiered in 1995. The duo’s aesthetic view, language and work style are somehow unique within the Italian art community, in a way that goes against all pre-established theatrical, cinema and art syntax rules at 30 years since their premiere.

Before leaving for the US, Rezza and Mastella released the following interview in which they both discussed the different features of their work and life in detail. Their recount is self ironic, ruthless and irreverent exactly like their onstage performances.

If I were asked to talk about one of your plays, I would feel awkward. Your audience typically watches a show that is unusual, and which for this reason can be annoying, since it has no reference context or hints. I don’t think anyone has ever come up with something quite similar to your performances. Your theatre genre cannot be classified. Could you explain this concept to us?

antonio rezza flavia mastrella new york
Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella during reharsals. Photo: Martina Villinger

M: “It is a type of ‘accidental’ art created by Antonio, who is a real performer who brings all about himself onstage, from content to his own personality. I provide a visual language framework for what he does. The encounter of these two disciplines – performing and visual art – produces our own style, based on a synthesis between language and visual communication.”

Antonio, you define yourself as “the greatest living performer, until proven otherwise”. You are asked  the following question often: what is the difference between actor and performer?

R: “It is easy, an actor makes use of a feeling which is not his/her own, and I don’t see why it should be that way. The actor is paid for what he/she does. A performer, on the other hand, has no feelings and acts like a device. In an ancient machinery type of theatre I am a device, I operate myself. I don’t have to focus on anyone’s state of mind; the characters which appear onstage do not have a state of mind. It is all about a device which you steer, lead, you only have to be a good driver, you are not a servant of a feeling.”

Do your characters have specific features or does your audience always see Antonio Rezza?

R: “I don’t think that the audience sees me because if I were more important than what we do, then it would be an ideological failure. I think that the spectators see what happens. What happens is absurd and the audience becomes fond of it. I am not Antonio Rezza whilst I perform, and my performance is almost like a type of schizophrenia. A division.”

M: “Performance is closer to the ritual than to the actual representation”.

Your performances do not come with a set but have a ‘habitat’ instead. Does the creation of habitats happen independently? How do you work on something which has no plot?

M:“I do not design sets, I am a visual artist, therefore I deal with staging, space, that is to say ’habitats’. I research form, language and concepts for two or three years, and the last part of the research is devoted to an habitat for Antonio.”

antonio rezza flavia mastrella new york

How do you communicate with each other when you are busy preparing a performance? Do you still surprise each other?

R: “Yes, of course, because we don’t work closely during the initial phases, but rather towards the end, to establish some kind of pattern. That is why I am amazed when my ‘habitat’ is ready and Flavia is, too, once she’s seen what I’ve come up with her habitat. If we were to work together since the very beginning of a project, we would not give each other this chance.”

What is the relationship with your audience?

Flavia Mastrella e Antonio Rezza in uno dei loro habitat. Foto: Stefania Saltarelli
Flavia Mastrella and Antonio Rezza in one of thei “habitats”. Photo: Stefania Saltarelli

R: “I could never do without the presence of an audience, our reciprocal love is a deep feeling because it is not expected. There is no bridge, no twofold device. If the spectators love what we do because we don’t question their love, then a strong passion unchains. It is a synergy, a different unity, very deep and tied to the whole ritual.”

M: “To the ritual as well as to the channels used to communicate. We must not forget that our work expresses itself in six, seven different ways, beside the language which is spoken onstage.”

Your shows are not really humorous, although the audience appears to have fun, do you think that’s because it won’t understand what it is watching?

M: “Our audience understands everything and understands as it wishes, it does not have to understand one specific detail. That’s what sets people free and makes them laugh. Our freedom of expression and Antonio’s physical and exasperated dramatic feature produce excitement and irony (Antonio’s body is extremely expressive). Our game  turns concepts upside down and exaggerates cliches.”

R: “And then we hope that they won’t understand us, one cannot expect to understand. Why understand what someone else does? I end up being more seduced by what I have not understood. Having fun is a tiring practice. When I say ‘having fun’ I don’t mean to underestimate or minimize efforts at all. Having fun comes with a sacrifice.”

How did you get the idea of bringing Pitecus to NYC? It is one of your oldest  shows, dating back to 1995.

R: “It looks ‘ancient’ even when compared to our previous shows of 1988. We chose Pitecus because the space is perfect and because we prefer to start with our first show.”

M: “And also because it is a ‘ready to wear’ show which fits inside a suitcase. It is huge but becomes tiny.”

Will the show be 30% in English and 70% in Italian?

antonio rezza flavia mastrella new york
Antonio Rezza in “Fotofinish”

R: “25% in English, perhaps even less, I’m not sure (he smiles). If you go onstage you need to get there without thinking about what you are going to say, like in Italian. This automatism /conscious intention suffers from an emotional problem; if you know a show by heart in English but end up having spectators watching it in English for the first time, emotions create an obstacle which affects one’s automatism and results in mistakes. I will learn four parts in English; however, the entire show will come with subtitles.”

Why do you both think that social theatre should be abolished and that only self-referential art has a meaning?

R: “Because that’s what goes down in history. Name anyone who has gone down in history for creating social engagement with arts. Painting, music, cinema, theatre, if we talk about what wins time, I can’t think of anyone who has become a legend by talking about social issues instead of existential issues.

“The problem is also a technical one. If you talk about the Ardeatine massacre or about the Vajont Dam landslide you communicate with the use of a code, i.e. those who watch know what you are talking about. Without that awareness, that specific show would not be performed onstage. This is a technical feature – if you put up a show about Vajont and the audience knows nothing about it, then the show has no reception. Then you create engagement. Shows about the Holocaust cannot technically be made if the audience has never been aware of the Holocaust, that’s a fact – so you have an option: either copyrights are granted to the audience, or the ticket has to be sold half price. It is fair, isn’t it?”

What about your relationship with politics?

M: “I think I am leading an artistic protest. I have changed my political value, which I have introduced into arts, so I produce a dissent-art.”

R: “We surely are fighting artists, we are warriors.”

M: “We fight so that critique and creativity endure.”

R: “I don’t believe that politics has to do with higher thinking because it is severely affected by compromise, and therefore it is related to lower thinking. Any politician who comes and talks to us loses when dealing with our quick and incisiveness-driven thinking and creativity. Why don’t we organize round tables between the most important political representative and the quickest artists?”

antonio rezza flavia mastrella new york

Do you regard yourselves as individualistic anarchists?

M: “We are anarchic, not so much individualists.”

R: “I hope I am. Before I die, I would not want to admit to myself that my being anarchist was due to my lack of interest, although it may be true. An illusion prevented by lack of interest.”

Can you name any artist who has been inspirational and whom you particularly like?

R: “I’d rather mention living artists, they can’t contradict us. Zappa for music, Artaud for theatre, Kubrick for cinema , Cruijff for soccer and Bacon for painting.”

M: “Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder for cinema, although I am inspired by the work of Fluxus and of the Lettriste artists.”

One last thing: I have read that you want to be filmed – with the support of Flavia – while holding your son.

R: “Yes, ever since he was born, I’ve been holding him every three months to film short videos. He will carry me around when I’m old, then he will drag me along and when I die, the film will be over. The day I die I want him to hold me when I am dead.”

M: “It will be the last shot.”

R: “So I will be the first, let’s say actor, who has had the chance to plan to be acting as dead in a movie.”

M: “How sad, shall we end with the idea of us dead?”

R: “Imagine if my father had recorded me growing up, since my birth; I’d have observed the change every three months. It is not a sad thought, but a rather nice one.”


LEGGI UNA VERSIONE DI QUESTA INTERVISTA (con video) IN ITALIANO


Translation by Stefania P. Clegg for Umanism.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Fabrizio Rostelli

Fabrizio Rostelli

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

Rocco Commisso, presidente New York Cosmos (foto Fabrizio Rostelli)

La comunità italiana festeggia l’arrivo dei New York Cosmos a Brooklyn

byFabrizio Rostelli
studio-elisabetta-terragni

Urbanistica e memoria storica secondo Elisabetta Terragni

byFabrizio Rostelli

A PROPOSITO DI...

Tags: Italian artistItalian theaterperformance arttheater
Previous Post

Trump e Clinton rotolano la democrazia americana nel fango

Next Post

“Italiano Lingua Viva”: riflessioni per il convegno di Firenze

Discussion about this post

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

Rocco Commisso, i New York Cosmos e lo stadio della Roma

Rocco Commisso, i New York Cosmos e lo stadio della Roma

byFabrizio Rostelli
Waiting – A Documentary, storie di italiani a New York

Waiting – A Documentary, storie di italiani a New York

byFabrizio Rostelli

Latest News

Addio ad Alleva Dairy, l’Iconica Bottega Italiana a New York

Addio ad Alleva Dairy, l’Iconica Bottega Italiana a New York

byMaria Sole Campinoti
Biden a New York: dalla Casa Bianca $300 milioni per un tunnel sotto l’Hudson

Biden si rimette in marcia: prima tappa in Wisconsin per lavorare sul futuro

byMassimo Jaus

New York

Addio ad Alleva Dairy, l’Iconica Bottega Italiana a New York

Addio ad Alleva Dairy, l’Iconica Bottega Italiana a New York

byMaria Sole Campinoti
Il sindaco di New York prepara allo scontro col Madison Square Garden

Il sindaco di New York prepara allo scontro col Madison Square Garden

byPaolo Cordova

Italiany

La crisi dell’istruzione nel mondo: 2/3 dei bambini non capiscono cosa leggono

Master Fondazione Italia-Usa: altre 200 borse di studio “Next Generation”

byLa Voce di New York
World Pasta Day: negli USA sempre più Made in Italy grazie all’ICE

World Pasta Day: negli USA sempre più Made in Italy grazie all’ICE

byNicola Corradi
Next Post
stati generali lingua italiana

"Italiano Lingua Viva": riflessioni per il convegno di Firenze

La Voce di New York

Editor in Chief:  Giampaolo Pioli   |   English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro

  • New York
    • Eventi
  • Onu
  • News
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Voto Estero
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • People
    • Expat
  • Arts
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
    • Lingua Italiana
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • Mediterraneo
  • English
  • Search/Archive
  • About us
    • Editorial Staff
    • President
    • Administration
    • Advertising

VNY Media La Voce di New York © 2016 - 2022
Main Office: 230 Park Avenue, 21floor, New York, NY 10169 | Editorial Office/Redazione: UN Secretariat Building, International Press Corps S-301, New York, NY 10017

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • New York
  • Onu
  • News
    • Elezioni 2022
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • Arts
    • Speciale Venezia
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
    • Cucina Italiana
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • English
    • Arts
    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Food & Wine
    • Letters
    • Lifestyles
    • Mediterranean
    • New York
    • News
  • Subscribe for only $6/Year

© 2016/2022 VNY Media La Voce di New York

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In
By clicking on "Create my account" or by registering, you accept the and the .

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?