ABSTRACT

It’s 1976 when a very young Toni Servillo, together with a group of friends - Matteo De Simone, Alessandro Leggiadro, Riccardo Ragazzino, Eugenio Tescione -, decides to create an experimental theatre group called Teatro Studio. Against the backdrop of a period of intense artistic ferment and radical rethinking of theatre, the group embarks on a creative journey that places the stage at its centre, understood as a space where diverse cultural and existential experiences can converge and as a place to experiment with their own way of conceiving and practicing the theatrical art. Teatro Studio thus begins to frequent art galleries and off-theatres, moving between readings and concerts, exhibitions and performances (from Leo and Perla to Odin Teatret); it also attends places and contexts directly linked to theatrical experimentation (festivals, showcases, and the like). The trajectory of Teatro Studio actually mirrors the rapid succession of the “trends” that characterize the development of the Nuovo Teatro movement; after its first stage experiments, centered on the extreme deconstruction of theatrical language, the group is in fact drawn to the idea of the “postmodern spectacularity”, before eventually moving toward a more complex dramaturgical construction. This essay aims to reconstruct these years of training and self-education of the Caserta-based company, analyzing its various stages and seeking to understand how this journey also leads to the definition of that highly distinctive style which characterizes Toni Servillo’s acting and directorial approach.

BIOGRAFIA

Mimma Valentino è assegnista di ricerca in Storia del teatro moderno e contemporaneo presso l’Università degli Studi di Napoli “l’Orientale” e insegna Storia e modelli della produzione teatrale all’Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”. È autrice di diversi saggi: L’affresco lirico di Mariangela Gualtieri e Cesare Ronconi («Acting Archives Review», 14, novembre 2017), Le ‘isole galleggianti’ del Terzo Teatro («Culture Teatrali», 27, 2018), Process and product in Italian Theatre («Eastap Journal», 2, maggio 2020), Per una cartografia del ‘nuovo’ a Napoli. Alcuni luoghi della sperimentazione artistica e teatrale negli anni Sessanta («Arabeschi», 19, 2022), Il ’concertato’ de lacasadargilla. Storia di un ensemble teatrale («Acting Archives Review», 28, novembre 2024). Ha pubblicato i volumi Il Nuovo Teatro in Italia. 1976-1985 (Titivillus, 2015) e Dal teatro analitico-esistenziale alla nuova spettacolarità. Le rassegne (Terre Blu, 2023).