"It always begins with an emotional stimulus: a reaction to an injustice, disdain for my hypocrisy and that of others, solidarity and human sympathy for an individual or a group of people, rebellion against outdated and anachronistic laws in relation to today's world, disturbance in the face of events that, like wars, upheave the lives of nations, etc."
Eduardo De Filippo
Naples is the source of observation and inspiration for Eduardo, as he is known there, and is a symbol and emblem for the city's inhabitants, like few playwrights have managed to be. This is one of the essences of what we believe theater can represent for our society. The example of Eduardo becoming the heart of a community is a beacon for a culture often mistreated and always in constant reconstruction.
Eduardo De Filippo is undoubtedly one of the ghosts that make up the theatrical universe of La Perla 29. A specter with an ironic smile that has left us works that have come to life at the Teatre Biblioteca: "Natale in casa Cupiello" and "Questi Fantasmi." We premiered the former in 2010 and were able to restage it the following two Christmases. In between, we staged "Questi Fantasmi," featuring two actors from the Teatro Uniti company in Naples. The mix of different acting traditions and the proximity to the Neapolitan character have nourished excellent experiences with De Filippo.
As documented by Damià Barbany, the genesis of these two De Filippo works comes from a mixture of reflection and almost casual circumstance. Reflection because La Perla, having traversed drama with Chekhov, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, etc., wanted to continue the experimentation with comedy that had already begun with "Passat el riu," seeking a popular theater that exudes humanity and wisdom. It was in this search that we thought of Eduardo De Filippo. At the same time, circumstance played a role in the fact that Oriol Broggi, through Pau Miró, had met two young Italian actors: Enrico Ianniello and Tony Laudadio, both from the Teatro Uniti company.
"And I travel to Naples, get to know the city, we agree, and decide to do 'Questi Fantasmi' with them at La Perla. But while we prepare this international production, to whet our appetite, we stage 'Natale in casa Cupiello.' We were already fully immersed in Eduardo's world; we liked it because it portrays a post-war society, of lower-middle-class people, very parallel, I would say, to Spanish society in the middle of the last century. It's a society that also teaches us very well about Italian neorealistic cinema. And not only that, it also reminds us of the actors of that time, the repertory companies that went from city to city and from town to town, traveling by train and sleeping in cheap pensions."
Oriol Broggi
De Filippo came to La Perla 29 directly from Naples, and we wanted it to be the same for "Filumena Marturano." That's why the scenic pulse maintained by Clara Segura and Enrico Ianniello, so amusing, so intense, is one of the riches of this show. We premiered it in the 20/21 season, amid the pandemic. This, therefore, is a great occasion to celebrate the reunion of Filumena and Domenico, Clara and Enrico, free from masks, safety distances, and preventive restrictions.
We hope that Eduardo makes you vibrate once again at the Teatre La Biblioteca with "Filumena Marturano," a classic that we are sure always has much to tell us.
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