2009 – THE CASE OF ALEXANDER AND MARIA

Luca Barbareschi brings back to the stage a rare text by a cult author: Giorgio Gaber. “Il caso di Alessandro e Maria” (The case of Alexander and Maria) sub-headed: “A curious repetition of a story that has already taken place.”, taken place”. The comedy, written with the inseparable Sandro Luporini, was staged exclusively by Giorgio Gaber himself, with the actress Mariangela Melato, in 1982.

An intimate dialogue between two people poised between past and present. A love story which had once existed and the inevitable devastation which comes with great passions. A ‘ring’ of the heart in which the two characters had lived their “boundless and wasted love affair”. Unexpected interactions between daily life and a dream world transcend and take shape in the body and voice of Luca Barbareschi in the role of Alexander, faced with the dilemma of ‘being’ or ‘being present’ and confronted by Chiara Noschese’s Maria “with her joy of life and her sadness at not being anywhere”.

They argue, communicate and don’t communicate, tease and taunt each other, play and duet over the original score of the excellent musician Marco Zurzolo, which is played live by himself and his band. The scenic design is by Massimiliano Nocente; the costume design is by Teresa Acone. The Lighting design is by Mario Esposito. This is a way of reviving for the public a play which had vanished among the extraordinary and vast output of works by Giorgio Gaber. A personal homage by Barbareschi to his friend Giorgio and a way for the director-actor to go back to recounting himself through an intimate story.

The very personal point of view of the emotional sphere of a visceral intellectual, anti-conformist and free thinker, transformed and elaborated into a rippling and lively version by the histrionic spotlight-chaser Barbareschi and by the unusual and first-rate talent of the actress Chiara Noschese. The whole show is given its ‘rhythm’ by adaptations from the songs by such singer-songwriters as Pino Daniele, Endrigo, Lauzi and Cotreau together with the new compositions by Marco Zurzolo: “C’amor”(What a Love), “Migranti” (Migrants) and “Tema di Giulia” (Julia’s Theme).

CAST&CREW

Cast: Luca Barbareschi
Production: Casanova Multimedia, Antheia
Director: Luca Barbareschi
Music: Marco Zurzolo
Costume design: Teresa Acone