Staging Injustice on Stage: Pellizza’s Quarto Stato at the Theater
May 10, 2022, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
An online presentation by Prof. Luca Valentino on the making of Il sole della fiumana, a play inspired by Pellizza’s painting Il Quarto Stato.
Professor Luca Valentino will illustrate Il sole della fiumana, a play he directed and staged in Volpedo alongside Alfonso Cipolla and Giovanni Moretti in occasion of the centennial anniversary of Giuseppe Pellizza’s painting Il Quarto Stato (The Fourth Estate). The play, distributed throughout the village of Volpedo, featured a mix of professional actors and village inahbitants whose ancestors served as models for Pellizza’s landmark painting. The stories narrated by the inhabitants brought back to life the personal and collective challenges that the women and man of Volpedo faced at the turn of the twentieth century: extenuating labor, hunger, migration, but also a great sense of community and the roots of a struggle for better conditions that continues to this day. The play also included original songs of protest from the era. Performed for the first time in 2001, Il sole della fiumana has been staged numerous other times, including in connection with the Milan Expo in 2015.
Luca Valentino is Professor of Performing Arts at the Conservatory of Music of Alessandria, Italy, where is also Artistic Director of “Scatola Sonora”, an international festival of small-scale opera and musical theater (at its 25th edition in 2022) named after a collection of Alberto Savinio’s writings. An international expert on Alberto Savinio, Valentino has adapted the artist’s works for performances on stage. He has written numerous essays on Savinio, as well as the book ‘L’arte impura. Percorsi e tematiche del teatro di Alberto Savinio‘. Valentino has directed many operas in Italy and abroad, spanning from the XVII century repertoire to contemporary works with a particular focus on new musical theatre, operas written for young people and chamber theatre. He has also served as drama director and playwright, and curated special events in connection with museums and art exhibitions.
Public Programming at CIMA is made possible with the generous support of Christie’s
Admission is free
