Author: Stebos

The Seagull (A Fragment) from Chekhov

The Seagull (A Fragment) from Chekhov

Stebos

Stanislavsky’s House Museum, Moscow, Russia

The final directing project of the professional development “School after Theater” session held in Moscow consisted in choosing a short section of Chekhov’s The Seagull to be performed as an entire show. I worked with four actors from the Swedish National Theatre, plus many master class participants who were called to embody the dreams and expectations of the protagonists in the background. I directed in English, while the performance was in Swedish: despite the short (but intense) rehearsal time, I was impressed by the combination of focus and flexibility demonstrated by the players, which resulted in a really crisp performance. Plus, this was even more exciting as it was held in Stanislavsky’s own “chamber theatre.”

A close-up of Stanislavsky’s portrait
Hamlet in Raimondo’s Castle (from Shakespeare)

Hamlet in Raimondo’s Castle (from Shakespeare)

Stebos

Montecuccoli Tower, Pavullo and Monteceneri Tower, Lama Mocogno, Modena, Italy

This site-specific Hamlet summer project was held at two historical locations, very different spatially, a remodeled castle that normally functioned as a museum hall and a multi-level medieval tower near Modena, Italy. I directed Act III in a postmodern experimental way: for instance, the dialogue between Hamlet and the Queen (scene 4) occurred three times, in separate versions that spanned the range between ironic detachment and intense emotional involvement. Overall, my interpretation of the whole act derived by a sense that every character is constantly under surveillance and every scene is being watched by someone else within the world of the play. For the same project, I appeared as one of the play-within-the play masked actors.

 

A Coffee in Suspense from Eduardo De Filippo

A Coffee in Suspense from Eduardo De Filippo

Stebos

Spazio Ludialydiis. Milan, Italy

This extended monologue was a stimulating collaboration with Cecilia Vecchio, an actress from Teatro della Tosse (Genova), on a dramaturgy juxtaposing several female characters from Eduardo De Filippo’s oeuvre. I collaborated on this project to weave the different scenes into a coherent performance, which became Un caffè sospeso, a reference to the Neapolitan tradition of leaving a cup of coffee paid for, for the next customer who might need a free one.

Tie Up That Shakespeare! (Shakespeare da legare)

Tie Up That Shakespeare! (Shakespeare da legare)

Stebos

Teatro del Battito and Teatro della Memoria, Milan, Italy.
Piccolo Teatro Caligola, Aversa, Naples, Italy.

For a while I collaborated with an energetic company of young actors, I Mercenari in Milan, Italy. This show took its title from the fact that many scenes from different plays were tied together in the context of an asylum, which gave us a lot of freedom in experimenting. The show had quite a few versions adapted for different types of venues, from regular theatres to outdoor settings and dinner theatres.

Even with all the Bard’s words, the most impressive scene remained the final silent one, where all the performers gradually wrapped themselves up as a group in a long yellow sheet. Here is where I came to fully realize the power and intensity of pure images.

 

 

Hamlet ’99

Hamlet ’99

Stebos

Teatro Comunale Concordia, San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy

The first show where I experimented with brevity and improv together. One of the four actors and I produced a minimal version of Hamlet, and offered the audience the opportunity to choose the style they wanted it played, form serious to comic, spoken or musical-style.

 

 

 

 

 

Mácbèth (from Shakespeare)

Mácbèth (from Shakespeare)

Stebos

Franco Parenti Theatre, Milan, Italy.

My MFA diploma production with the actors of the School of Dramatic Art “Paolo Grassi.” The whole show was offered a small, somewhat claustrophobioc space at the Teatro Franco Parenti, which made movements difficult for the large cast. However, the location worked well with the theme of the play and afforded an incredible intimacy with the audience, which packed the seats for the production’s run.

Dramaturgically, I variously trimmed the play to emphasize Malcolm’s story and the theme of free will, in addition to translating the original.

Critic Ruggero Rastelli described the show as “a gem not to be missed” and my directing as “solemn and ironic at the same time, with that extra kick that takes you in” (Il Giornale, March 23-29 , 1998)

The video of the performance was later shown at Centro Festival del Teatro d’Europa, Palazzo Reale, Milan.

Masquerade by Lermontov

Masquerade by Lermontov

Stebos

I worked as Assistant Director and Dramaturg for a production of Maskarad (Masquerade) by M. Ju. Lermontov directed by Valter Malosti at the Santa Chiara Theatre. Brescia, Italy. In my role as Dramaturg I researched and selected scenes from other works that resonated with this play on the theme of jealousy and a series of iconographic sources that inspired the production. You can find the results of my research in the evening program booklet here.

 

Miracles by Alessandro Rossi

Miracles by Alessandro Rossi

Stebos

Alfredo Chiesa Theatre, Milan, Italy

A contemporary script satirizing the dangerous overlapping in the Italian system of media and politics, both under the influence of prime minister Berlusconi, here called “The Man Who Smiles.” The cool part was that since each of the components of the company “Movimenti Maldestri” was working in the same fashion magazine (Vogue Italia), we received both costumes by Moschino and coverage on the national magazine Panorama.

Panorama Year XXIV, issue 40, page 301

The Tragedy of Noble Antony (from Shakespeare)

The Tragedy of Noble Antony (from Shakespeare)

Stebos

School of Dramatic Art “Paolo Grassi” – Sala Colonne, Milan, Italy

In this dramaturgy of two of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, scenes from Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra explored Antony’s character in its entirety. Three male actors played all the roles including Cleopatra and the Roman mob, and this brought about many inventive solutions in a mixture of tragedy and comic moments.

The Wisteria by Serge Rezvani

The Wisteria by Serge Rezvani

Stebos

School of Dramatic Art “Paolo Grassi”, Milan, Italy
Villa Casalini, Rovigo, Italy

A play by a visionary Iranian/French contemporary author. I staged it first in a circus setting, then in an actual Italian villa, where the fictional action takes place. The two versions tackled the challenge of how to show beauty onstage in two different ways: the first through imagination and transposition, the second by referring to the real thing.