San Marino, Claudio Bisio talks about himself at the Nuovo theater
Arrive today at 9pm, at the New Theater, Claudio Bisio with his latest show, the only date in Romagna, a bit of a Bildungsroman, a bit of a biography, My male life told, a production of the National Theater of Genoa, directed by Giorgio Gallione. It is a tale of beautiful stories and dark sides, profound and at the same time playful, personal, ideal, civilized, ethical.
Bisio, the last work in the theater is from 2014. Did you miss it? Let’s think of the covid but also of the many television and film commitments …
“Absolutely yes. I always want to do theater which is my first love. It is in my head and in my heart, and if not performed I think about it. I manage it so that I never get tired and allow me to do more. Actually the previous show started in 2014 but it ran for three years and soon after we thought about this new job. And this time too we will do a long tour, it is no coincidence that we have left Rome, Milan and other cities outside, now we close next March and we will resume the year ».
How did you build this work? Four hands with the director?
«Gallione and I worked on the materials of Francesco Piccolo who is a friend and with whom I also did some readings. Knowing us he gave us free access to his complete work and also a couple of unpublished works. I know all the lyrics of him and he gave us crazy freedom, he trusted. So we cut and paste, in this we are masters ».
Is there a little bit of real life and a little bit of romance? But is there a little or a lot of her inside?
“It took me a little bit of mine and reply, reply after reply, now there’s a lot more of mine. It is an autobiography of him but also a little mine! ».
What unites you and what differentiates you?
«Francesco and I are both who thrives and he has only written better what I feel and share, in his lyrics there are many references that unite us. Only one element differentiates us: he is from the South and I deeply from the North and perhaps this enriches his writing and the narrative structure that I take and make mine even if he does not belong to me ».
How is it working in the theater with the same director you have been collaborating with for decades? He says your lives have crossed so many times since the beginning, he made her go back to the Piccolo. One might ask: do you understand each other by glances?
«Yes, that’s it, he’s already sober, he doesn’t speak much and the few times he does, his words are more than effective. He and I do the most intense work on writing and in this case it was exciting, tiring but fun, we also played because there was so much material that we liked but it was needed because a theatrical show cannot last more than an hour and twenty minutes, especially these days with masks… ».
How does it relate to live music? Here he has two musicians alongside, Marco Bianchi and Pietro Guarracino.
«In all my shows there are musicians and they are fundamental. The music by Paolo Silvestri written ad hoc play a role of the first order. In fact I wouldn’t call it a monologue because for me there is a significant interaction between voice and music. Someone called him a melologue and someone else brought him closer to Gaber’s “song theater”, considering that he honors me very much and makes us very happy ».
What does it mean to make people laugh? He stated that as a child he wanted to be a clown, does he think he was consistent enough, that he came close?
«The comic is a point of view of reality. For me, basically comic is what is unsettling, a little unpredictable, unexpected. Think, who makes you laugh at all? The children, the mad, the elderly, who have no brakes and make blunders. It is this spontaneity that I like. There are many kinds of comedy but I tend not to give myself definitions ».
Ah, that was my next question. Come would you define yourself?
«I leave the definition to posterity. I don’t have a definition but I repeat that I don’t like constructed comedy ».
His friend Giorgio Terruzzi said: «The part in the sun laughs and makes you laugh. The part in the shade thinks seriously ». Is that so?
“Absolutely yes, we are very friends and he knows this dark side of the moon that I have.”
Lella Costa instead: «It is possible to admire the path of someone who does your job, to find him good every year, not to feel envy and to consider it a great privilege to share the stage with him». How awful?
“That’s right, together we work very well and share different commitments, including social ones such as an exhibition on Parkinson’s. But it doesn’t just happen with her. I give myself a compliment, I believe that one of my qualities is to love my colleagues, to enjoy their success. My being next to him is also a physical pleasure, you can see it in Zelig. Without them I would not have been there, it is no coincidence that after 10 years I have taken it back. It was right where and now it is beautiful rive, to meet brand new people, we have done a good job of scouting, this excites me a lot ».
Is there anything you haven’t done yet that you would like to do? And she says: I’ll do it when I have time.
“Mum! Boh! I timidly say that I have never done a directing and in the future I could at the cinema, why not? If I find the right story, a good story, and in any case it will be without me as an actor ».
A few words about Romagna?
«I love her very much. I can’t wait to go to Longiano, to Roncofreddo to eat and to Cesenatico to play padel. I remember with great pleasure the Carpegna where I shot the film “Asini”, of which I wrote the screenplay, my first Romagna film, since now all the municipalities of that valley are in Romagna ».
And what do you think about the geopolitical situation, about the war? Are you afraid?
“Yes, absolutely. A tragedy. My position is utopian, I always hope for a revolution by the Russian people. And I think of the many demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. The request for peace must unite all peoples ”.