The second chapter of 'Viviani per strada' directed by Nello Mascia debuts at the Trianon

The second chapter of “Viviani per strada” directed by Nello Mascia debuts at the Trianon

From Saturday 25th to Wednesday 29th September “Via Partenope” and “Tuledo 'e notte” will be on stage with Bammenella 'e 'copp' 'e Quartiere.
The two one-act plays by the playwright from Castellammare di Stabia, prologue to the '21/'22 season curated by Marisa Laurito

Tickets on sale online and at the theatre box office

Tomorrow, Saturday 25 September, at 21 pm, the second chapter of Viviani per strada, the project curated and directed by Nello Mascia and produced by the Forcella theatre, will debut in the Trianon hall.

The show, on stage every day until Wednesday 29 September, continues the theatrical journey dedicated to Raffaele Viviani, after the success of the diptych Porta Capuana and Mmiez'â Ferrovia, staged last year.

With the support of the Complementary Operational Program of the Campania Region (Poc 2014-2020), Viviani per strada was born, in the midst of the pandemic, to imagine a “possible theater”, in compliance with the restrictive health regulations issued by the Government, looking at those streets and alleys where the Author himself captures the most genuine moods of his characters and representing the texts in the same places of the dramatic location. In the initial plans, therefore, the show should have debuted in Piazza del Plebiscito. However, after more than a month of negotiations, the Municipality of Naples communicated the lack of authorization to perform the show in the identified public space. Hence the decision of the artistic director Marisa Laurito with the leaders of the theater foundation to save the production, a few days before the “premiere”, by staging it inside the theater itself.

For this second chapter, Mascia has chosen two other one-act plays by Viviano, Via Partenope and Tuledo 'e notte (Via Toledo at Night), both written in 1918, at the time of the spread of the Spanish flu pandemic and in the aftermath of the Caporetto defeat, when the Italian government taxed variety theatre to discourage the staging of this type of show.

Both comedies contain all the elements that represent the basis of Viviani's theatre, with the alternation of characters and situations in an almost cinematic rhythm, which transforms Neapolitan folklore into a cultural climate very close to German expressionism. Tuledo 'e notte, in particular, includes one of the examples of the extraordinary mastery of the Author, namely the piece Bammenella 'e 'ncopp' 'e Quartieri, which became famous beyond the comedy itself.

In Via Partenope – also indicated by the Author with the title Scugnizzo – the two themes that often recur in Viviani's theatre dominate: marginalization and poverty. The comedy is set in the area surrounding the Excelsior hotel. Among the twenty characters on stage – Viviani played three at his debut – the figure of the scugnizzo emerges, who undergoes a real process of transformation in the Author's work. Here the scugnizzo is poor and marginalized, but he does not resign himself to his condition, he fights with strength and courage in his path of social protest against the wealthy people who lodge in the hotel. This peculiarity differentiates the scugnizzo from the other marginalized people in Viviani's theatre, who have a role of subservience or profound unhappiness.

Tuledo 'e notte is Viviani's first "nocturnal" work. With clear intentions of contrast, two different matrices are present: one represented by the typical Vivian-esque characters of the street, such as '0 Pizzaiuolo, 'o Sapunariello and the prostitute Ines, called "Bammenella", and the other by the "chorus" of the Donnine and the Viveurs. The character of the Coachman acts as an intermediary between these two worlds which, due to continuous contact with the tourist world, is characterized by the use of imported musical rhythms, with songs that have had their own independent diffusion and notoriety. Among these is the famous Bammenella («So' “Bammenella” 'e 'copp' 'e Quartiere»). In his first version, Viviani used the music of a French song in vogue at the time, La valse brune by Georges Krier. He later replaced the well-known melody with his own original motif. This song immediately gained great popularity, becoming a workhorse of great female performers, from Luisella Viviani, Tecla Scarano and Gilda Mignonette to Angela Luce.

The two shows will feature, with Nello Mascia himself also directing, Daud Afzal, Rossella Amato, Matteo Biccari, Ciro Cascino, Peppe Celentano, Gianluca d'Agostino, Francesco Del Gaudio, Angela De Matteo, Massimo De Matteo, Chiara Di Girolamo, Roberto Giordano, Pierluigi Iorio, Roberto Mascia, Massimo Masiello, Matteo Mauriello, Simone Mazzella, Ciccio Merolla, Ivano Schiavi, Daniela Sponzilli and Imma Tammaro.

The musical arrangements are by Ciro Cascino and Ciccio Merolla. The scenography is by Raffaele Di Florio, the costumes by Pina Sorrentino, the choreography by Imma Tammaro, with the lighting design by Gianluca Sacco and the sound by Daniele Chessa.

The poster is completed by Roberto Giordano (assistant director), Luciano Quagliozzi (production manager), Costantino Petrone (stage manager), Antonio Minichini and Maurizio Morra (electricians), Isidoro D'Amato (prop maker), Stefano Cammarota (stage sound engineer), Antonio Piccioli (assistant sound engineer), Daria Bonavita and Adele Zaira Zigarelli (seamstresses), Daniela Riccio (production office), Francesca Buzzurro (administration), Silvia Di Meo (company secretary), Paolo Animato (press office and communications), Scenografie Imparato e figli (scenes), Ctn 75 by Vincenzo Canzanella and Fortuna Di Domenico (costumes) and Nupa (transport).

Viviani per strada will be performed every day from Saturday 25th to Wednesday 29th September, always at 21pm; on Sunday 26th September the performance will be at 18pm. Tickets can be purchased at the theatre box office, authorised pre-sales and online on the AzzurroService.net circuit. The box office is open from Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 13:30pm and from 16pm to 19pm; on Sunday from 10am to 13:30pm. Information: institutional website teatrotrianon.org, tel. 081 2258285.

In compliance with the hygiene and safety regulations prescribed for the health emergency, seats are limited and numbered. Possession of a green pass and the use of a mask are mandatory. At the entrance, a theater employee will take the temperature of the guests.

Viviani per strada, secondo capitolo is the prologue of the 2021/2022 theater season, curated by Marisa Laurito, which will be inaugurated on October 15th with the theatrical premiere of the musical Adagio Napoletano. Cantata d'ammore, written and directed by Bruno Garofalo, with the Stabile del teatro della Canzone napoletana company.

The activities of the Trianon Viviani – Teatro della Canzone napoletana benefit from the technical sponsorship of Enel and the patronage of Rai Campania.