Gustavo Frigerio
Workshop:
GRACE
Accept weakness, make silence, and invite darkness.
Gustavo Frigerio is an actor and theatre director. He created several theatre pieces where different disciplines are employed according to a rigorous structure, an almost musical score.
The relationship between form, meaning and reality is the constant field of his exploration and has assumed different aspects during the years.
In his first works strong formal and aesthetical aspects cools down a personal theatre of passions inherited from Artaud: Dell'odore della pelle, 1983, inspired by the work of the painter Francis Bacon, created in Rome and presented at the Festival of Polverigi, Theatres des Arts in Cergy-Pontoise, Theatre Mickery in Amsterdam; Woyzeck, 1985, from Buchner, in Rome, France, Belgium and Holland; Leonce and Lena, 1987, an interpretation of the text of Buchner as an opera buffa.
Starting from Le idee passeggiano nude (1988, inspired by a popular radio program, Theatre Trianon in Rome and tour in France), his interest shifts more to reality and to questioning of aesthetics as masking reality.
This research will bring to an approach to agit-prop with: Dove esita l'immagine del mondo (1992, Theatre de la Bastille, De Singel, Festival Taormina Arte), a show on terrorism inspired by Antigon; Kohldampf, a show on racism, from an idea of Elettra de Salvo (1994, Mouson Turm, Frankfurt).
Contemporary music is another constant in his research. He directed: Pour Octave (1988, Centre Pompidou) a theatrical music concert conceived by Claire Renard; Curlew River by B.Britten (1993, Theatre de Caen); Eight songs for a mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies for the Kammer Oper of Frankfurt (1994); Col canto, a new opera of Claire Renard (1995, Theatre St.Quentin); Margini Sottili by Lupone- Bianchini for the Hessiche Rundfunk in Frankfurt (1996); La confession impudique by Bernard Cavanna (2000, Scene National, Orléans); La muse dans son jardin by Claire Renard (2003, Festival de l'Ile-de-France,Paris); Frauen-Donne by Chatarina Kroeger, for soprano and music by Lombardi, Bucchi, Reimann, Montanaro (2004, Roma, Sala Uno); Orimita, an opera by Claire Renard (2013, Opera de Reims, Theatre de la Bastille Paris).
He has also collaborated with some choreographers to create theatre pieces where dance plays a central role: Je deviendrai Medée with Noemi Lapzeson (1986, Geneve); El lagarto y la Lagarta with A.Rosenfeld and A.Teixido (1990, Rotterdam); Black Out with Karin Elmore (1993, Lima).
With the actress Elettra De Salvo he has created Bleiche Weisse Leiche, homage to Valeska Gert (1992, Mouson Turm in Frankfurt and tour in Germany) and Omicidi Acrobatici, homage to Fortunato Depero (1998, Festival Oriente-Occidente in Rovereto, Sophiensele in Berlin).
He also created a personal trilogy of solo-performances :Io che non ho mani che mi accarezzino il viso (1991) Festival Internazionale di Polverigi, inspired to "Journal d'un curé de campagne" of Bernanos and the photos of Mario Giacomelli, Alle mie vittime (1996) Festival di Polverigi, an adaptation of "Les chants de Maldoror" of Lautreamont, Falso, a healing ritual (1999) Festival one and only in art in Vienna.
More recently he began a research on some of the texts that mark the evolution of modern theatre: Vestire gli ignudi by Luigi Pirandello (2003, C.R.T. Milano, Theatre de la Bastille, Paris); Così è, se vi pare by Luigi Pirandello (2003, C.D.N.A. Grenoble);
Les Nègres by Jean Genet, with African artists (2007, Roma, locanda Atlantide and Festival I Solisti del Teatro); Bodas de sangre by Federico Garcia Lorca (2011, Lausanne, Paris Festival On n'arrete pas le theatre, Polverigi Inteatro; Strange Interlude by Eugene O’Neil (2013, Lausanne).
Besides directing he has always been engaged in developing a personal approach to teaching acting. His experience is based on the work of Grotowski and Zigmunt Molik, a long practice of dance technique and tai-chi-chuan. He has given workshops through all Europe: TheatreSchool in Amsterdam; Theatre des Arts in Paris; De Bewegung in Antewerpen; Scuola d'Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi in Milano; Plesni Teater in Lubiana; Studio al Porto in Rotterdam and is regularly teaching in L'Ecole de Theatre des Tentureries in Lausanne.