"Bros" by Romeo Castellucci

Theatre

The performance opens with scenes from daily life, but their natural quality is gradually eroded, destroyed by an onslaught of regulations. An invisible dictatorship governs this piece. The recruited Actors have not learned their parts: they learn them while taking them upon themselves, by carrying out orders received remotely. Before participating in, these Actors signed a pact, declaring that they will strictly adhere to the commands given to them – a commitment they must respect at any cost. And it is where their conscious will stops. It is also where their experience of alienation begins, when carrying out actions they do not understand and for which they are not prepared. This condition, far from being a constructive improvisation, compresses the time of awareness, eventually reducing it to zero. It is the epitome of speed, that eliminates any time for critical thought. What we see is a mass of actions that gradually accumulate – simple, daily actions, which may seem strange, taken out of context, but easily recognisable and carried out individually. Action overwhelms thought, which no longer seems to have the slightest importance here. Everyone knows exactly what to do, but this view raises a few questions: Who are they? What are they doing? Where are they going? And we realise that, while still individuals, they are actually similar, perhaps the image of one another. They are brothers. Reinforcing the resemblance in their condition, they all wear uniforms, the ones worn by policemen – the quintessential deuteragonists found in early cinema. Policemen have the task of ensuring that the Law is respected. But here, the Law is soon transformed into a farce. The specific iconography of the policeman introduces the Law, which prepares and triggers the apparatus of the disaster and is subservient to the latter. Comedy is now the hard-core version of the Law. The comic potential that inevitably arises here eventually swerves towards an obscure and perturbing side. The stage is crowded with many scenes, within which unusual and emblematic situations take shape. They hint at the false bottom, or bottoms, of appearance; the dark side of logic; the inconsistency of certainty… Mental images take the upper hand over space and are coupled with certain mottos. This complete syncretism leads to a new, active language: enigmatic, arcane, mute, made up of figures that always refer to something else. Bros forces together: words which are no more than commands; the mute language of images; and the emblematic words of the mottos. A circular discourse is thus created, which at times speaks through images and at times through words. Each actor is himself a spectator of what he has just done. The knot tying together actor and spectator is tightened, until any distinction is suffocated. This performance coincides with life in its actual unfolding. Its parts are no longer to be prepared but verified. There is no improvisation, but the abyss of an absolute present.
from 11/02/2022 to 19/02/2022

Conception and direction : Romeo Castellucci
Music: Scott Gibbons

Mottos: Claudia Castellucci
translated into Latin by Stefano Bartolini

Assistant director: Filippo Ferraresi
Second assistant to the director: Silvano Voltolina
Dramaturgical dialogue: Piersandra Di Matteo

Technical director: Eugenio Resta
Stage technician: Andrei Benchea
Light technician: Andrea Sanson
Sound technician: Claudio Tortorici
Costume keeper: Chiara Venturini

Stage sculptures and automations: Plastikart studio
Costume realization: Grazia Bagnaresi
Production director: Benedetta Briglia
Production manager: Giulia Colla
Promotion and distribution: Gilda Biasini
Technical headquarter team: Carmen Castellucci, Francesca Di Serio, Gionni Gardini, Caterina Soranzo
Administration: Michela Medri, Elisa Bruno, Simona Barducci
Economic consultant: Massimiliano Coli

Societas, in co-production with: Kunsten Festival des Arts Brussels; Printemps des Comédiens Montpellier 2021; LAC - Lugano Arte Cultura; Maillon Théâtre de Strasbourg - Scène Européenne; Temporada Alta 2021; Manège-Maubeuge Scène nationale; MC93 Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis; Le Phénix Scène nationale Pôle européen de création Valenciennes; Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen; Holland Festival Amsterdam; V-A-C Foundation; Triennale Milano Teatro; National Taichung Theater

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