'Pianura Opera House' is underway, a project that recovers the important bond between Pianura and Soccavo

The two neighborhoods in the western area of ​​Naples that recover their connection through the theatrical tradition and the history of Neapolitan entertainment.

The events, with free admission, organized by the Teatro Stabile delle Arti Medioevali as part of Affabulazione promoted by the Municipality of Naples, will animate the Attianese park starting from Saturday 23 September 2023.

The contribution that Pianura and Soccavo gave to the great theater of the city is important with the piperno used to build the facades and doors of the historic center of Naples. There are, then, references and connections to the territory in the history of Neapolitan entertainment and in the biographies of some of its reference figures: from those to the countryside between Soccavo and Pianura in the pastoral comedies and seventeenth-eighteenth century comic operas to the Cratere degli Astroni in the dramatic events of Gesualdo da Venosa up to the references to Soccavo and Pianura in the comedies of the 1980s, from the volcanic and sulphurous character of the territory (with the immediate association to the origins of the commedia dell'arte masks), to the fascinating theatrical spaces begun in the 1970s and never completed.

The PIANURA OPERA HOUSE project, therefore, highlights a borderland between the immaterial and the tangible. The event, part of the extensive Affabulazione program promoted by the City of Naples and funded by the National Fund for Entertainment of the Directorate General for Entertainment of the Ministry of Culture, aims, in its title, to represent hope and a provocative message charged with positivity. It presents itself as a festival that combines cultural excellence with elements of community project: the careers of local entertainment professionals intersect with prestigious professionals with national and international visibility. The project also enhances the tangible and intangible historical heritage of the Pianura and Soccavo areas by highlighting symbolic figures and constitutive elements of Neapolitan culture connected to the municipality that encompasses them.

The five shows are hosted in the Attianese Park Arena, always starting at 20,15pm to allow participation by spectators from outside the Town Hall who wish to reach Pianura via public transport.

Programme

We begin with “PIPIERNO,” on stage on September 23rd, which takes Pulcinella to a quarry in Soccavo thanks to the dramaturgical work of Fabio Pisano, a young Neapolitan playwright active at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan and staged last season by Davide Iodice at the Teatro Nazionale in Naples.

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The research for the play, which premieres for the festival, was conducted by Gaetano Gagà Esposto. The lead actor is Francesco Luongo of the Compagnia Liberaimago. This will be followed on September 24th by "MURGA!", a spectacular blend of the popular Latin American dance evoked by the title and an unpublished text by Rafael Spregelburd, performed in a world premiere by the young actor Matteo Bertolotti. The event is driven by BandAssurda Murga Flegrea. On September 25th, Luca Iervolino, an actor for major international directors such as Stein and Pasqual, will perform "LA MAGIA DELL'UOVO," directed by Flavio Albanese. This work, conceived as a Neapolitan cosmography, centers on a polyphonic being. Ei, the central character, part Pulcinella and part Harlequin, represents the centuries-old condition of the lazzarone and brings to the stage the sulphurous aspects of comedy, of the very concept of comedy, assuming various voices from Berni to Di Giacomo and Petito, up to personal inserts by Gian Maria Cervo, an active and internationally acclaimed Neapolitan playwright, author of the piece.

“LA CACCIA AGLI ASTRONI” is expected on September 26th, a micro-opera concert by Matteo Bertolotti with Emanuele Carlino dedicated to Gesualdo da Venosa. Musical equivalent and friend of Caravaggio, Gesualdo is known for his sadomasochistic adventures and especially for the murder of his wife following complex family manipulations. On the very day he committed his crime, Gesualdo pretended to have to go hunting in the Cratere degli Astroni park, partly included in the IX Municipality of the City of Naples. Bertolotti creates a work that develops in two parallel universes, what was and what could have been, which occasionally intersect.

Finally, on October 1st, the review closes with “LA FESTA DE BACCO” (music) inspired by an eighteenth-century opera set “in the pleasant countryside between Soccavo and Pianura”, it is a celebration of diversity and connects the local bandit sbandata with the popular stand-up comedian Massimo Bagnato, who introduces the evening with a prologue between the serious and the facetious in which he talks about his great passion for opera. The event is in collaboration with the important reality of the Lemuseperloro Association that has been working in the social sector in Naples for years.

Pianura Opera House takes place in collaboration with the Arci Movie Napoli and Napolinmente associations with study contributions from Professor Roberto D'Avascio, president of Arci Movie Napoli, and the social mediation interventions of Virginia Capuano.

Among the planned workshop activities - in addition to the evening "THE FOUR DEATHS OF PIER PAOLO PASOLINI" curated by Cervo, D'Avascio and the director of La Fura del Baus Pep Gatell, presented in the preview on 17 September - there will also be, again at the Attianese park, an educational restitution open to the public on 27 September (19 pm) with the Compagnia Liberaimago on Roberto De Simone's praefatio to Basile's "Cunto" with interventions by Roberto D'Avascio, and on 29 - 30 September (19 pm) a workshop on the Pulcinella mask.

The shows are all free to attend.

Reservation is required with a Whatsapp message to 347 88 74 694 or an email to ufficiostampaquartieridellarte@gmail.com