CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia

The most prominent event in the Udine cultural calendar is the Teatro Contatto Season, which hosts both Italian and international productions of contemporary theatre since 1982. In addition to hosting theatrical shows and events, CSS is actively involved in a number of training initiatives, the most important of these being Ecole des Maîtres, an international drama school offering master classes to training actors, which has its Italian headquarters in Fagagna, a town 20 km from Udine. In Italy the drama school is co-organized by CSS and Ente Teatrale Italiano / Italian Theatre Institute and in Europe together with institutes and government bodies from France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Renamed the Thierry Salmon Project three years ago, the school’s artistic director is Franco Quadri, under whose leadership the course has offered 14 years of master classes given by some of Europe’s most prestigious directors including: Luca Ronconi, Jerzy Grotowski, Anatolij Vasil'ev, Jacques Lassalle, Lev Dodin, Peter Stein, Alfredo Arias, Dario Fo, Eimuntas Nekrosius, Giancarlo Cobelli, Jan Fabre, Carlo Cecchi, Rodrigo García, Pippo Delbono, Antonio Latella.
Ecole des Maîtres won the Leone d’Oro / Golden Lion for the Future 2007 of 39th edition of the International Theatre Festival - Biennale of Venice.
The scope of CSS’s activities also extends to initiatives aimed at encouraging the development of new theatre and following on from its leadership of Premio Candoni Arta Terme, it recently joined forces with six other Italian theatrical institutes to launch ExtraCandoni, a theatrical network concerned with the promotion, production and diffusion of new theatre. A related activity concerns theatre publishing and the creation of the drama series x il teatro dedicated to the publication of works by new playwrights.
CSS also plays an active role in the local community and is a major contributor to projects aimed at addressing the problems of juvenile alienation, delinquency and criminality. One such project is La meglio gioventù / The Best of Youth a youth group and theatre workshop offering basic theatrical training, jointly run with 20 parish councils in the region’s Bassa friulana district. Another, originally launched as a pilot project over 18 years ago, is Case Circondariali / Prison Outreach Project, a social and cultural programme developed in the region’s prisons and detention centres. More recent initiatives include projects initiated by Alessandro Berti and Michela Lucenti in collaboration with the Department of Mental Health in Udine: Arte/Società/Follia / Art/Society/Madness and Scuola Popolare di Teatro / Community Theatre School, both of which were launched at the Teatrino di Sant’Osvaldo which is housed within one of the buildings of what was once Udine’s psychiatric hospital.
A further initiative promoted by CSS is the TIG Teatro per l’infanzia e la gioventù theatre season, a project specifically targeted at schools - from infants through to secondary school. Realised in collaboration with The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and the regional Friuli Venezia Giulia Education Authority, TIG involves 16 parish councils in the Bassa friulana district and operates alternately between the various theatres in Udine and Cervignano del Friuli. The project was launched at the same time that CSS became involved in the management of the Teatro Pasolini in Cervignano, which was reopened in 1997.
It was also in 1997 that CSS began to play a role in the management of Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, actively assisting in the development of a project which, based on the idea of a theatre representing the soul of a community, aimed to raise the profile of theatre in the town. The project, which continued until the 1999-2000 season was also to involve CSS in the theatre’s artistic programming.
CSS, due to the region’s proximity to the Balkans has always taken a keen interest in the cultural and social affairs of these neighbouring countries and four years ago that interest led to the Adriatico project, a phased project plan with the aim of raising reciprocal awareness among countries located on the Adriatic coast and encouraging the creation and development of collaborative cross-border artistic projects and initiatives.
However, it is within the realm of production that CSS is predominantly focused as repertory theatre. This has not only seen considerable investment in the region’s own artists but also the involvement of a great many national and international artists. By 2005, CSS had staged a total of 91 productions and lent its support to no fewer than 36 artistic projects.
It was the 1990’s that this two forked approach to production - of investing in productions with local artists and, simultaneously building collaborative links with national and international artists - came to be firmly established. This has seen productions with local artists such as the actress Rita Maffei - whose recent work includes Tracce di un sacrificio / Traces of a Sacrifice (now celebrating its seventh year on the Italian stage), Katzelmacher by Fassbinder, Lachrymae and Western Woman - and Claudio Moretti, Fabiano Fantini and Elvio Scruzzi of Teatro Incerto (Maratona di New York / New York Marathon, Garage 77) together with productions resulting from the development of collaborative relationships with national artists such as Cesare Lievi (Barbablù / Bluebeard 1993, Tra gli infiniti punti di un segmento / Among the Endless Points of a Segment 1995, which was awarded the 1995 Biglietto d’oro prize, and Il giorno delle parole degli altri / The Day of Other People's Words 1999), Mauro Avogadro (director of Copenhagen, which premiered in Udine in 1999, and subsequently enjoyed huge success throughout Italy, most notably at the Teatro di Roma and the Piccolo Teatro in Milan), Gigi Dall’Aglio (Bigatis / Spinners, premiered at the 2000 Mittelfest arts festival and Cecità / Blindness in 2004), and Michela Lucenti and Alessandro Berti of Impasto (Cantiere West / Western Work in Progress, Mittelfest 2004). Collaborative projects with international artists include Polygraphe with the Canadian Robert Lepage and Stefania Rocca and productions with Eimuntas Nekrosius - for two years course director at the Ecole des Maîtres, where he directed a production of Il Gabbiano / The Seagull by Anton Chekhov which was subsequently presented at the Venice Theatre Biennale in 2001 and later toured throughout Italy and Europe.
CSS’s most recent productions include Pasolini, Pasolini!, Giulio Cesare / Julius Caesar and Morte per acqua / Death by Water from the director Paolo Mazzarelli, La morte di Danton / Danton’s Death from the Macedonian director Aleksandar Popovski. In addition, CSS has lent its support to Michela Lucenti’s new dance company Balletto Civile, which brought I topi / Mice to the Teatro Stabile stage.
It is also important to mention some of the early productions with Giuseppe Bevilacqua (director of Quattro quartetti / Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot, Horcynus Orca, La rosa dei teatri / The Rose of Theatres, and Corsia degli incurabili / Incurable's Ward), and Francesco Accomando (who directed Come mai non siamo in otto? / How Comes We Are not in Eight?, Nel segno del Drago / In the Sign of the Dragon and Il giorno della pace / The Day of Peace, the workshop performances such as those on Macbeth, I cappuccetti rossi / Little Red Riding Hoods from Collodi’s Pinocchio, La luce nelle tenebre / Light in Darkness, Sogno del clown / Clown's Dream and Supermarket City); other productions of particular note are those which resulted from CSS’s collaboration with the director Massimo Navone (La guida di Botho Strauss / Botho Strauss' Guide 1986, presented at the Asti Festival and Mugik 1989); with Alessandro Marinuzzi (director of Aminta by Torquato Tasso, Georges Perec’s L’aumento / The Pay Rise presented at the 1990 Asti Festival, A cinquant'anni lei scopriva...il mare / At 50 She Discovered...the Sea by Denise Chalem, and works by Giuliano Scabia: Fantastica Visione / Fantastical Vision, Commedia del poeta d'oro, con bestie / Commedy of the Golden Poet with Beasts and Gloria del teatro immaginario / Glory of Imaginary Theatre, the latter having been written especially for the CSS theatre company), with Luigi Lo Cascio (Labirinto di Orfeo / Orpheus' Labyrinth, a show for an audience of one, and Verso Tebe / Towards Thebes) and finally, those with the Banda Osiris between 1987 and 1991.

In 2006, six new productions were premiered at the principal Italian theatre festivals Santarcangelo, Siracusa, Cividale del Friuli / Mittelfest, Montalcino, Bassano / Opera Estate:
'Ccelera! / Speed Up!
I sette a Tebe / Seven in Thebes
L'arte e la maniera di abbordare il proprio capoufficio per chiedergli un aumento / The Art and Science of Approaching One’s Office Manager for a Pay Rise
Muradôrs / Brickies
Fuoco! / Fire!
Confine / Border