Cast: Luigi Morra, Pasquale Passaretti, Eduardo Ricciardelli
Sound designer: Camera
Lighting designer and Video maker: Domenico Catano
Stage Designer: Stefano Zecchini
Director and playwright: Luigi Morra
About the contents
TVATT, in italian language is the acronym of “Teorie Violente Aprioristiche Temporali Territoriali”, that means something like “territorial contextual preconceived violent theory”. In the dialect of some South-Italian areas, close to Caserta, “TVATT” is a way to say “I beat you”, in a certain sense, it could also mean “I defeat you”.
The work is focused on a precise kind of violence and it deals with a lot of comical and grotesque elements: slaps, punches, scuffle, youth impetus. That primordial violence, usually working as a meaningful experience, features some dynamics that for better or worse must be considered spectacular.
The art of fighting, between the importance and the skill of doing it, is put into stage. It deals with clash and existential impulse, referring to some inconceivable but (at the same time) interesting principles, strange backgrounds, built on a violent behavior, influenced by marginality, social problems and hardship.
Everything can be a language to describe and reveal a human scenario.
Inspired by Berkoff
It is loosely based on “East” and “West”, two pieces written by Steven Berkoff, put into stage between the 70’ and the 80’. The artist’s necessity to recall and exorcise some human problems through the theatre, gaining from suburbs of London East End, has been really meaningful in the creation process related to the piece.
Berkoff teaches and states that the violence scenario is itself a show. In his approach his attitude to be an actor more than a writer is strong: the two texts highlight a dramaturgy that seems driven by the necessity of a scenic action.
In TVATT, Berkoff is a sort of reference, an inspiration linked not much to the test, but predominantly to the impulse, to the human scenario, to the poetics. It is not the dramaturgy itself to lead the basis of this inspiration. Even if we are talking about two different geographical places, two different cultural and linguistic contexts, both characterized by slangs and idiomatic expressions, TVATT and the two pieces by Berkoff share a strong and rude poetics.
The comical elements, the dialect, the text, the approach to scene.
TVATT is a work that shares both a comical and grotesque language and a poetic and reflective one. People recognize themselves in this piece, in what they can see on the stage and it’s definitely interesting and essential to discover that when they see the exacerbation of particular violent dynamics, they laugh.
In the first part of the piece, people are called to share the stage. The dialect is strong and stressed. The cyclic sound of specific situations reproduced along the piece by a loop machine, the posing and the said become ritual. There’s a sort of provocation or challenge pose which the characters are stuck in and the way of this challenge is not really clear.
Their human features create a recognizable theatrical framework.
On the stage there’s a microphone on its stand, a loop station and some grey and square chairs. There’s a lot of space between the characters each other, but they “inhabit” the scenario of the action with a certain mastery.
On the scene, the actors tend to create a long moment of interaction with the audience and this allows a sort of game/challenge. In this way, TVATT involves protagonists who interpret their roles in a highly interactive activity that fluctuates between reality and fiction.
The actors invite their audience on the stage and there the spectators are asked to imitate the violent but grotesque motions and gestures (also some “folk” dialect idiomatic expressions about violence) that the characters use when the show is in progress.
The dramaturgy deals with two different phases.
In the former there’s the linguistic and interactive game which the audience is asked to take part in, in the latter the characters play their texts that are based on a reflection on their existence. They need to tell about themselves.
TVATT is a piece thought as a performance, where all that happens is repeatedly at risk, led by the possibility to get something unexpected. It’s like saying: TVATT, I beat you even if we don’t know what will happen.
Music, sound, video and other tips.
The music is all originally composed and produced by “Camera”(an Italian post-rock band) and it includes several tracks. The sound features the scene also dealing with the playing of the recorded voices of the characters.
The sound design purposes some sounds recalling typical routine situations that are common in the context in which the piece is set (people having a quarrel, boys fighting, someone spitting, brawls and etc.).
During the show, the characters let their audience watch a short video including themselves telling about some violent experiences.
Credits and Contacts
TVATT is produced by Etérnit, Teatraltro with Lunarte and the support of TeatroForte
Etérnit is the name of a theatre troupe dealing with the production of show, performance and other types of project. It is often involved in the organization of cultural events, theatre training and drama teaching projects. Its members are Luigi Morra (stage director, actor, playwright), Pasquale Passaretti (actor and playwright), Antonio Arcieri, Marco Pagliaro, Agostino Pagliaro (musicians from Camera) and other artists and technicians. In about ten years, Etérnit has produced works and theatre shows in Italy (mainly working in Roma, Caserta and Napoli) and abroad. It has taken part to several festivals and meeting. Talking about the theatre pieces and performance, we can include Binario 2: sotto la panca la capra crepa awarded by Roma Fringe festival with the “Special Off” in 2012; TVATT, which has been on tour since 2014 and put on stage in Belgium and Holland; Fuoco, an itinerant show which is loosely based on a De Libero’s novel called “Amore e Morte” and performed with a site – specific setting; A.A.A., a performace that has recently been put on stage in Roma and Paris. Etérnit has also produced two Camera’s albums in cooperation with MarteLabel: Favole e Apocalissi (2012) and TVATT music from the theatre piece (2017). Etérnit has been involved in several events, theatre workshops, co – production activities, done and made in cooperation with crews, labels, schools and theatre companies; the main events which came from this cooperation network were “Caravan Con il Sud”, Lunarte, a music and theatre festival, the theatre training labs and workshops “Rischio Forte” at Forte Prenestino in Roma.
Graphic project: Achille Pacifico
Photos: Mena Rota
Website: Albert Plaza
Video promo: Domenico Catano, Riccardo Perazza
Press: Valeria Zecchini info@valeriazecchini.it +39 320 3398975
Info and Booking: Flavia Alvi,Francesco Lombardi info@eternitonline.it +39 329 2077703; +39 389 6893314
U.K. Booking: Francesca Manzillo francescamanzillo@gmail.com