Short Theatre 2023 returns to Rome from September 3rd to 17th
Rome’s annual Short Theatre, the international festival dedicated to contemporary and performing arts, returns for its eighteenth edition this September with a series of evocative performances including concerts, Dj sets, dance and theatre performances, workshops, and installations, presented by artists coming together from all over the world. Wider than any previous editions, the event will be spread out throughout the city in different venues including places like La Pelanda – Mattatoio di Roma, Teatro Argentina, Teatro India, Teatro Nazionale, TeatroBasilica and other urban spaces where Romans and visitors enjoy their cultural life.
The title of this year’s edition, Radical Sympathy. “By reshaping a familiar term that may have lost its resonance in contemporary discourse, yet carries a profound and multifaceted philosophical legacy, Short Theatre 2023 aims at listening to the movement – collective, global, anti-natural, in constant mutation – of dependencies and interdependencies attune the matters of the world, provoking action, reaction, further action, and mobilization.“
Short Theatre will take place from September 3rd to 17th in 15 locations within the urban territory of Rome, and beyond.
THE PROGRAM
The festival’s preview will be presented by Fred Moten, a poet and professor at New York University, considered one of the most important voices in the field of African American studies. On September 3rd, at Teatro Argentina, he will treat us to his poetic recital titled “Sounding the Open Secret.”
PRISMA 2023 is entirely dedicated to the choreographer and visual artist Ligia Lewi: an extensive project involving different venues and partners, showcasing the transdisciplinary work of this renowned international artist. Not to be missed is the national premiere of “Still Not Still,” taking place on September 16th and 17th at Teatro India, along with the screening and talk events at Cinema Troisi on September 13th and workshops at the same Teatro India.
The festival also boasts two collaborations with the Teatro dell’Opera, presenting two highly interesting projects that explore language and its power. On September 8th and 9th, at Teatro Nazionale, we will have the opportunity to witness “Echolalias, On The Amnesia of Forgotten Sounds,” a vocal performance by the experimental Swedish singer and composer of Ethiopian origins, Sofia Jernberg, and “Il Terzo Reich,” a hypnotic video installation by Romeo Castellucci in dialogue with the sound composition by Scott Gibbons.
The talented Franco-Algerian choreographer, dancer, and performer Nacera Belaza will bring “L’Envol” to the stage at Teatro India on September 16th and 17th, drawing inspiration from the famous photograph by Richard Drew, “The Falling Man,” related to the Twin Towers attack.
On September 9th and 10th, at Pelanda – Mattatoio di Roma, we will have the pleasure of witnessing the performance of South African choreographer Robyn Orlin, specially recreated for Ivorian dancer Nadia Beugré, titled “In a corner the sky surrenders.” This work reflects on strategies of adaptation, loneliness, and emotional and existential vulnerability arising from a condition of uprooting.
INSPIRATION
Best Events in September in Rome
Choreographic writing becomes a political space to re-read one’s experience with “Have a Safe Travel” by Eli Mathieu-Bustos on September 9th and 10th, or to overturn traditional rites and dances, as Lorena Stadelmann does in “Bolero de Bienvenida,” scheduled for September 7th and 8th with the support of the Swiss Institute, both presented at Pelanda – Mattatoio di Roma.
From September 12th to 15th, at TeatroBasilica, we will witness the debut of “Elogio della vita a rovescio / Tre storie,” the first dramaturgical nucleus of Daria Deflorian‘s new show.
Also worth noting is “DREAM,” the latest production by Alessandro Sciarroni, winner of the Golden Lion at the 2019 Dance Biennale, and the sensual and infernal body/machine relationship of “Radio Vinci Park” by director and visual artist Théo Mercier, performed by François Chaignaud and created in collaboration with Villa Medici.
These are just some of the projects in a vast and articulated program that shapes this edition of Short Theatre. For more details on Short Theatre’s list of artists and performers and what is unfolding when, check their website or click here.
September 3 – 17
Locations:
La Pelanda – Mattatoio di Roma, Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4
Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina, 52
Teatro India, Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman, 1
Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, Via Castellaneta, 10
Cinema Troisi, Via Girolamo Induno, 1
Carrozzerie n.o.t, Via Panfilo Castaldi, 28
Teatro Nazionale, Via del Viminale, 51
Real Academia de España, Piazza di S. Pietro in Montorio, 3
Circolo Angelo Mai, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 55
Teatro del Lido di Ostia, Via delle Sirene, 22, Lido di Ostia
TeatroBasilica, P.za di S. Giovanni in Laterano, 10
