A Pinocchio that comes to life among the wreckage
- Claudia Martore
- 17 apr 2020
- Tempo di lettura: 3 min
Aggiornamento: 18 apr 2020
When we started work on Pinocchio - I like It! - under the direction of Luigina Dagostino, -we had a big problem: our Pinocchio. When we think of the well-known character of Collodi, the first thing that comes to mind is a slim or even weakling boy, but our actor, Daniel Lascar, did not even remotely have the appearance of a Pinocchio. Ouch! It is said that we must transform weak points into strengths - and our iconographic research started from this assumption. Luigina Dagostino wanted to highlight the hypocrisy of a world of adults who constantly lie telling Pinocchio that lying is wrong and cannot be done. But the lies of this Collodian world, which is Italy in the late 19th century, are the lies of those who are harassed by poverty. These are the lies of those who, dressed in rags and with nothing left to lose, look for a way to put together a meal and survive to the next day, as magnificently told by the characters of the Cat and the Fox in Matteo Garrone's recent film adaptation. But in Pinocchio - I like It! the lie is inserted in a more abstract and contemporary context. A context made of social classes, consumerism and a promise to become rich with a click or a "Scratch and Win". A world that from the 80s to today always seems to evolve and rust on itself with the same promises, with the same traps and with the same sparkling garbage. BING !! Do you know when the oven makes this sound to tell you that the cake is ready? This is exactly what happened for the scenography of -Pinocchio- I like It! Recompose the metal fragments of a civilization, that constantly chews and scraps, rummaging in the "charm of the garbage," has become the path to define a trash aesthetic for this Pinocchio. There is an incredible community in Santarcangelo di Romagna (because yes, for a classic like Pinocchio it was important to look into the Made in Italy) called MUTONIA.
Built and inhabited by members of the Mutoid-Waste Company, a legendary crew of artists / cyber craftsmen / travelers who, among other things, is behind many British and European epochal raves between the late 80s and 90s. This above all has dedicated its entire existence to the artistic recycling of everything related to urban waste.
In Mutonia, the waste becomes a work of art with the creation of heavy and imposing "Mutoids" produced by the genius of those artists. At this point Geppetto stops being a carpenter and starts rummaging among the metal sheets. His tools are no longer saws and screwdrivers but welders and pincers, chains, steam and old electric cables. And Pinocchio becomes massive, heavy and powerful, and at the same time cold and relegated to a condition of rusty garbage.
How do you become real kids? It will not be by being the "good boy" that Pinocchio - the Mutoid will find his way, rather he evolves by developing the ability to walk on the wreckage of that world in which he was born. Pinocchio will do it by enduring the harshness of life, learning what compassion is and, fundamentally recognizing his proper humanity.
Pinocchio - I like it!
Directed by Luigina Dagostino
with Daniel Lascar/Simone Valentino, Claudio Dughera, Claudia Martore
Light designer Agostino Nardella
Stage Technician Mattia Monti
Stage costumes Georgia Dea Duranti
Produced by Fondazione TRG Torino 2017
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