On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s death (March 1, 1938), the Italian Cultural Institute of Montréal is pleased to present the theathral show of Chiara Cimmino and Valerio Garaffa, “La Divina e il Vate – A history of art and love”.
May 17th, 2018, 6pm – Free admission
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal
1200 Av. du Dr Penfield
Performance in Italian
That of Gabriele D’Annunzio and Eleonora Duse is an encounter between two artists who made their era great, but is also a troubled relationship between a man and woman. Their emotional bond lasted for about ten years where passion and break ups, crises and succeses, made them ispire each other and nurture their creativity. In a dramatized reading of some epistles, monologues and passages taken from D’Annunzio’s works, Chiara Cimmino and Valerio Vittorio Garaffa retrace the salient points of the history of art and love between the Vate and the Divine, a woman whom he himself admitted not to deserve.
Gabriele D’Annunzio, writer and politician (Pescara 1863-Gardone Riviera, Brescia, 1938), was one of the greatest exponents of European decadence. Rich in culture, he assimilated various literary and philosophical tendencies, creating his own unmistakable style. In 1888 he moved to Rome, where hanging out with the aristocracy inspired him to write the novel Il piacere (1889). During a stay in Naples (1891) he became interested in the works of Nietzsche and Wagner. The Nietzschean readings are revealed in the novels Triumph of Death (1894) and The Virgin of the Rocks (1896). His inspiration for writing for the theatre came from the great actress Eleonora Duse, with whom he had a tormented love story. In a few years, D’Annunzio composed his main works, from the novel Il fuoco (1900) to the pastoral tragedy La figlia di Iorio (1904). After a stay in France, he returned to Italy and in 1915, and once invited to Quarto to inaugurate the monument of the Mille, he started a heated interventionist campaign. In 1919 he led an expedition of veterans, starting from Ronchi (later called “the Legionaries”) and arriving in Fiume; they occupied the city with a paramilitary coup, he established the Italian Carnaro Regency, and keept control of it for more than a year and wrote with De Ambris a Carnaro Charter with a corporatist background. In December 1920 he was finally evacuated by the Italian army. Retreating to Villa Cargnacco, in what he later called the “Vittoriale degli Italiani”, on Lake Garda, he lived the rest of his years with special regard: in 1924 he was elevated to the rank of Prince of Montenevoso; he supervised the national edition of his works and in 1937 he became president of the Royal Academy of Italy.
Valerio Vittorio Garaffa – Graduates as a director and actor from the Drammatic Art School Paolo Grassi, in Milan. He perfected his training at the Santa Cristina Theatre Laboratory directed by Luca Ronconi. He studied Italian poetry and Lectura Dantis with Paolo Giuranna and the mimic method of Orazio Costa with Alessandra Niccolini. He works as an actor, among others, in the shows “Odyssey, double return” (B. Strauss) directed by Luca Ronconi, “The prisoner” (Dalla Piccola) directed by Peter Stein, “Welcome to California” (Francesca Angeli) directed by Marco Plini. Among his experiences as a director we remember “Oscillations” by Vitaliano Trevisan, “Cimbelino” by W. Shakespeare (for which he also edited the translation that is currently being published), “The Bacchae” by Euripides, “Women in Parliament” by Aristophanes, “Don Quixote” taken from the work of Cervantes. He completes his training by studying Linklater and Alexander techniques. Since 2010 he teaches theatre by holding workshops for professionals and non-professionals. In 2011, together with Chiara Cimmino, he founded the Teatro del Disìo company. In 2015 he was awarded the “Premio Mazzella”, First National Prize of Dramaturgy in schools. In 2016 he was one of the founders of the International School of Italian Theatre Giovanni Grasso, based in Montreal.
Chiara Cimmino – Graduated as an actress from the Scuola d’Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi in Milan in 2007. She works in theater with classical authors (The storm of A. Ostrovskij – Horace by H. Muller – The seagull of A. Cechov – The fan of C. Goldonii – Harlequin educated by the love of P. Marivaux – Dream of a midsummer night by W. Shakespeare); contemporary texts and research theatre (Dromio e Silvia, directed by M. Fontana – Expoi, futurist show, directed by F. Grazzini, Piccolo Teatro di Milano); children’s theatre (Bianca di S. Gabos), comedy theatre (Disaster Comedy, production TKC – Provaci ancora Sam di W. Allen). She also works for the Teatro Stabile in Catania in the musical Pipino the short of Tony Cucchiara and The Preston brewer by A. Camilleri. In 2005 Eros Pagni awarded her the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Palio teatrale in Chiavari and in 2007 she starred in A. Jarry’s Ubu Re, directed by L. Facchinelli, winner of the III International Prize for Small Actresses. Since 2007 she has been working in theatre, cinema (Il grande sogno, directed by M. Placido) and TV (Rossella, fiction by Rai), as well as constantly perfecting his training with Linklater and Alexander techniques. Since 2010 she teaches theatre by holding workshops for professionals and non-professionals. In 2011, together with Valerio Vittorio Garaffa, she founded the Teatro del Disìo, with which he performed “Cimbelino” by Shakespeare, directed by Garaffa. In 2014 she played the role of the female protagonist in the film “Rimbalzello” by N. Gharbi, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Maazzeni Film Festival in Sicily. In 2015 she completed his training at the Shakespeare Forum in New York. In 2016 she was one of the founders of the International School of Italian Theatre Giovanni Grasso, based in Montreal.
Reservation no longer available