Made in Ilva: Italian scandal and experimental theatre.
[…] The performance has developed into a combination of repetitive physical actions, like factory workers at their daily work. Sounds become obsessive rhythms […] the solitary worker tries to break the monotony of his life – but there is no escape.
[…] Pianzola sits facing the back wall on top of a 150cm high metal four-legged frame. For most of the powerful performance this will be his only prop. Later a welding mask will be introduced, taking on almost iconic status in an atmosphere where workers must work, knowing there is no alternative employment. […].
[Pianzola’s] body contorts between the bars of the frame, it becomes the factory, a pedestal, the worker standing mighty, a bird’s nest looking to the future, a shadowy shopping basket.
He talks of his mutilated body, of work starting early. He wades up the stage to the factory, falls back, again and again. Something powerful and unpleasant is being described and the audience is kept engrossed for the full length of the production. Pianzola is a visceral presence on stage. […]
