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The “National Luigi Pirandello and 20th Century Festival” directed by Giulio Graglia, reaches its 28th edition with a rich calendar of events, also in Val Sangone.
«Each edition contains an adventure: the creation of the programme, the event panels, the new collaborations constitute a challenge that becomes more and more demanding from year to year – says the artistic director Giulio Graglia – As is known, the Festival also embraces the protagonists of the 20th century, and 2024 sees some anniversaries that we will remember since we consider this a priority duty. On the value of memory we take inspiration from Oscar Wilde: “Memory is the diary that each of us carries with us.” It is inevitable that epochal events influence our existence and not only because we may have experienced them but because they have been handed down to us and it is up to us to pass them on to posterity”.
The inspiration for the creation of the Festival, which took place in 2007, is linked to the stay that Luigi Pirandello made in 1901 in Coazze, guest of his sister Lina: «He traveled from Rome to Turin by train, still with the train he moved from the Piedmontese capital to Giaveno and finally arrived in a carriage in Coazze – continue from the festival – Turin, with its Alfieri and Carignano theatres, played a fundamental role in the professional life of the Sicilian playwright, despite the fact that the Savoy public and the critics were never benevolent towards him, but what particularly influenced the creativity of the Nobel Prize winner literature, were the inhabitants and the landscape of the Sangone valley. In fact, Pirandello stayed in Coazze for two months, and the places and people were of great inspiration to him, to the point that he wrote “The Notebook of Coazze”, the comedy “Each in his own way”, the short stories “Gioventù” and This year’s mass”, and the novel “Giustino Roncella born Boggiolo””.
Among the actors who participated in the festival are Corrado Tedeschi, Leo Gullotta, Vetrano and Randisi, Sebastiano Lo Monaco, Gipo Farassino, Carlo Simoni, Mario Brusa, Giovanni Moretti, Riccardo Forte, Il Teatro delle Dieci, Natalino Balasso, Giovanni Mongiano, Enrico Lo Verso, Neri Marcorè, Mariella Lo Giudice, Eugenio Allegri, Valerio Binasco and many local companies such as Accademia dei Folli, Onda Larsen, Tedacà, Tangram, the Classical Orchestra of Alessandria.
The Festival, in addition to the artistic program, hosts the Giovanni Graglia Prize, created in 2005 and chaired by the writer Sabrina Gonzatto.
Twenty events included in the 2024 program, with Pirandello and the authors of the 20th century. «The openness towards the culture of the 20th century allows us to remember those who preceded, supported and followed the Sicilian playwright – adds the artistic director – Our public knows that we love contaminations, crossovers with music, cinema, television, current events. We love, among other things, encouraging young talents and enhancing more established profiles”.
This year’s edition commemorates four anniversaries: one hundred years of radio, 70 years of television, one hundred years since the death of Franz Kafka and one hundred years since the birth of Franco Basaglia. The events take place between Turin, Coazze, Novi Ligure and S.Stefano Belbo, with a program divided into sections.
For “Prose” Friday 21 June at 8.30pm at Punto13 (via Farinelli, Turin) “Non si sa come”, with the young talents of the Mario Brusa Academy; Friday 28 June at 8.45pm at the Palafeste in Coazze “Canzoni delle osterie Fuori Porta”, produced by the Accademia dei Folli; again in Coazze on 5 July at 8.45pm “Hotel Borges” by the Picola Compagnia della Magnolia; on 12 July at 8.45pm “Frida, a ribbon around the bomb” by Tedacà; on 19 July at 8.45pm “Storie di barrier” by Linguadoc; on 26 July at 8.45pm at Villa Tosco Prever, Coazze, “One, nobody, one hundred thousand: music and lyrics inspired by Pirandello”, by the Classical Orchestra of Alessandria; on 23 September at 8.30 pm at the Castello di Lucento in Turin “Non si sa come”, with the young talents of the Mario Brusa Academy; same location on September 24th at 8.30pm for “180, the revolution of Franco Basaglia”, Linguadoc; on 25 September at 8.45pm at the Teatro Romualdo Marenco repeats “One, nobody, one hundred thousand: music and lyrics inspired by Pirandello”.
For the “TV in the theatre” section, Tuesday 18 June at 6pm at the Circolo dei Lettori in Turin “1964!”, curated by Linguadoc; Tuesday 25 June at 6pm again at the Circolo dei Lettori “Pirandello e Kafka”, organized by Linguadoc; on September 4th at 9pm in the church of the Confraternity of S. Stefano Belbo “The columns of culture, in memory of Lorenzo Mondo”, in collaboration with Pavese Festival.
For the “Literary Walks” section, Saturday 29 June and Sunday 14 July at 4pm “Pirandelliana Walk in Coazze”, in collaboration with the Municipality of Coazze.
The Coazze events are in collaboration with Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo and Corto Circuito Piemonte.
For paid shows, tickets cost 15 euros, concessions 10 euros; at the Romualdo Marenco theater in Novi Ligure 20 and 15 euros. Info 335/ 6299996, 351/ 8407825, www.linguadoc.eu or [email protected].
