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Italian stage photography - discover how the Italian theatre shaped the Portuguese theatre

Experimental Choreography (2015) by Tiziano GhidorsiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Italian theater played a key role as influence of the Portuguese theater from the 18th century on. Such influence was utterly important in the formation of modern Portuguese theater and the experience of some of the most influencial Portuguese playwrights, actors and directors, such as Luiz Francisco Rebelo, José Oliveira Barata, Jorge Silva Melo or Luís Miguel Cintra near cutting edge theatre companies like Giorgio Strehler's Piccolo Teatro di Milano shaped late Portuguese theatre.

Threepenny Opera (1961) by Ugo MulasNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Theater vanguard and photography

After World War II, theatre in Italy underwent a profound renewal, with experiences such as Luchino Visconti’s or Giorgio Strehler’s, the virtuosity of the lyrical and musical theater and, shortly afterwards, the vanguard experiences of Tadeusz Kantor, Living Theater or Odin Teatret.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1949) by Pasquale De AntonisNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Photographers with very different styles and sensibilities, such as Pasqualis Di Antonis, Ugo Mulas, Luigi Ciminaghi and others where attracted by the new theatrical experiences and tried to develop their own photographic languages accordingly.

"A View From The Bridge" (1958) by Pasquale De AntonisNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Pasquale De Antonis (1908-2001) collaborated with Luchino Visconti for more than a decade, from 1946 to 1960, contributing to the recording and memory of his shows, with a modern language strongly marked by cinematic neorealism

Threepenny Opera (1961) by Ugo MulasNational Theatre and Dance Museum

In Milan’s Piccolo Teatro, Ugo Mulas’ scene photography, inspired by Bertold Brecht's "Modelbuch", assumed a central function, coherently integrated in the process of production and communication of Brecht's theatre directed by Giorgio Strehler.

Threepenny Opera (1961) by Ugo MulasNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Ugo Mulas documented Brecht’s Threepenny opera as a "photographic chronicle", capturing each scene, creating small sequences, alternating perspectives and sets. To accentuate the grotesque and caricatural dimension he manipulated the images in the darkroom, distorting the actors' faces and expressions.

"The Cherry Orchard" (1973) by Luigi CiminaghiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Luigi Ciminaghi followed Ugo Mulas as Milan’s Piccolo Teatro photographer, and he deeply participated in the whole process of staging. Ciminaghi's virtuosity translated the dense emotional atmosphere of Strehler’s scene direction into his photographs.

"The Tempest" (1977) by Luigi CiminaghiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

In his creative photographic process Luigi Ciminaghi used deliberately blurry, overexposed and granulated photographs with an intense darkroom work.

Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret (1974) by Tony D'UrsoNational Theatre and Dance Museum

With previous experience as a photojournalist, Tony D'Urso joined the Danish group Ódin Teatret and Eugenio Barba in 1973 documenting their vanguard theatrical experiences through rural Italian villages.

Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret (1974) by Tony D'UrsoNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Tony D'Urso documented the engagement of Odin Teatret in new forms of theatrical and cultural association during research residences on remote italian communities, in a modality of cultural exchange called "baratto culturale".

Kabuki theater (1980) by Vasco AscoliniNational Theatre and Dance Museum

The emergence of subjectivity

Between the 1970s and the 1980s, a new professional awareness developed, maturing the relationship between photography and theater, and the urge to combine documentation and communication with a deeper subjective vision and interpretation.

Marcel Marceau (1980) by Vasco AscoliniNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Since the 1970s, Vasco Ascolini had been documenting performances at the Reggio Emilia’s Municipal Theater "Romolo Valli".

Kabuki theater (1980) by Vasco AscoliniNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Ascolini developed a personal photographic language of great freedom using “low key” technique to render details of bodies, gestures and expressions.

From stage, bridges, lightning grill (1983) by Silvia Lelli and Roberto MasottiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Silvia Lelli and Roberto Masotti were the official photographers of the Milan's Teatro alla Scala since 1979. Lelli excels in opera and dance photography, Masotti in contemporary music and jazz photography.

Bird’s eye (1991) by Silvia Lelli and Roberto MasottiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Lelli and Masotti also photographed theatrical spaces in the series Suoni, Spazi, Silenzi that expresses their daily relationship with the theater.

Teatro con bosco e animali (1989) by Massimo AgusNational Theatre and Dance Museum

After working for New York’s On Stage magazine until 1986, Massimo Agus settled in Florence and started a regular collaboration with some theater and dance companies and with various festivals in Tuscany.

Sulla sparizione/Soli (1997) by Massimo AgusNational Theatre and Dance Museum

In his images, Agus seeks a clear and incisive photographic style capable of representing in a single image the synthesis of the performance experience.

Journal Deuxième (1995) by Marco Caselli NirmalNational Theatre and Dance Museum

A contemporary gaze

During the last decades, theatrical photography has undergone profound changes, mainly due to the transition to digital technology, which made its practice more accessible, but at the same time, contributed to a modification of the relations between photographers and theatrical institutions.

May B (2009) by Marco Caselli NirmalNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Marco Caselli Nirmal embraced stage photography following his discovery of Judith Malina and Julian Beck's Living Theater.

Journal Deuxième (1995) by Marco Caselli NirmalNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Since 1980, Nirmal has developed a long collaboration with the ethnomusicologist Paolo Natali and with Ferrara's Teatro Comunale. He explored the mastery of color to capture performative moments, particularly in dance.

"Prometeo" (2012) by Anna CampaniniNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Anna Campanini chose theater as a space for her expression and explores creatively the scene's obscurity and contrast.

Experimental Choreography (2015) by Tiziano GhidorsiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Tiziano Ghidorsi's individual research lies on using low key technique to capture the expressiveness of gestures and bodies.

Motel_ Prima stanza (2008) by Laura ArlottiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Laura Arlotti has been collaborating with groups such as Città di Ebla, Gruppo Nanou, or Muta Imago, in a reciprocal recognition game that crosses and confuses the boundaries between theater and photography.

Motel_Anticamera (2008) by Laura ArlottiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

"Oresteia" (2015) by Guido MencariNational Theatre and Dance Museum

Guido Mencari finds in the visionary and cruel aesthetics Romeo Castellucci's Societas Raffaello Sanzio of the most suitable subject for his strong emotional impact imaginary.

Oresteia (an organic comedy) (2015) by Guido MencariNational Theatre and Dance Museum

"Pharmakos" (2006) by Gianluca CamporesiNational Theatre and Dance Museum

The photobook Pharmakos resulted from a four years colaboration between Gianluca Camporesi and the Città di Ebla's theater company that performed exclusively for this project.

Credits: Story

Curators: Cosimo Chiarelli, Paulo Ribeiro Baptista
Director: José Carlos Alvarez
Photographers: Pasquale De Antonis, Museo Biblioteca dell’Attore, Genova, Italy
Ugo Mulas, Archive of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Italy
Luigi Ciminaghi, Archive of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Italy
Tony D’Urso, Odin Teatret Archives, Holstebro, Denmark
Vasco Ascolini
Lelli e Masotti
Massimo Agus
Marco Caselli Nirmal - Teatro Comunale di Ferrara
Anna Campanini
Tiziano Ghidorsi
Laura Arlotti
Guido Mencari
Gianluca Camporesi

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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