Chance, a keyword in Pistoletto’s philosophy, is the architect of the encounter between Michelangelo Pistoletto and Alessandro Preziosi. “Chance,” says the artist, “is the combinatory element on which everything that has life depends, the life we see reflected in the mirror. When we pause to reflect in front of the work, we realise that chaos is the only possible order”. This is how the artist and the actor formed the idea of developing together the new production of Tommaso Mattei’s Waiting for King Lear, the story of the king and his three daughters, based on the tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare, directed and performed by Alessandro Preziosi. On stage, surrounding the actors, are works by Michelangelo Pistoletto as stage objects used to narrate the relationship between fathers and children, but also to draw attention to the relationship between tradition and innovation and between man and nature.
The collaboration with Cittadellarte Fashion B.E.S.T.
The collaboration with Michelangelo Pistoletto extends to his Foundation, Cittadellarte, and includes not only the stage works but also the creation of the “stage clothes”, i.e. iconic costumes designed by the Fashion B.E.S.T. collective, the result of a traceable and ethical transparent textile chain and of the use of sustainable processes and materials, produced under the creative and artistic direction of Olga Pirazzi, Flavia La Rocca and Tiziano Guardini. The garments are made using Candiani Denim and COREVA™, the first entirely natural and circular stretch denim, dyed with Recycrom™, a technology that uses pre- and post-consumer waste, and lasered by Officina+39.
The protagonists
Waiting for King Lear stars Alessandro Preziosi as Lear, Nando Paone as Gloucester, Roberto Manzi as Kent, Federica Fresco in the double role of Cordelia and the Fool, and Valerio Ameli as Edgar. The play is produced by PATO and the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale with the artistic supervision of Alessandro Maggi and original music by Giacomo Vezzani.
The tour dates
The national premiere, presented as part of the Campania Theatre Festival, was held at the Palco Grande di Villa Floridiana in Naples on 9 July 2023. The next dates are at the Teatro Romano in Verona from 20 to 21 July 2023; the Teatro Goldoni in Venice from 2 to 5 November 2023; the Teatro Comunale in Vicenza from 21 to 22 November 2023; and the Teatro del Monaco in Treviso from 23 to 26 November 2023.
