© Alípio Padilha
«I wanted to celebrate so-called “ordinariness”, because it is this ordinariness that is extraordinary; my mother fought a battle for her own sense of existence, a battle fought by millions of women». Alexander Zeldin paints his own intimate and moving “Portrait of a Lady”.
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Teatro Strehler
Alice was born in 1943. She is Australian, and an activist. But what else do we know of her existence? What does her son, Alexander Zeldin, know?
In The Confessions, the English dramaturg and director has drawn on hours of conversation with his mother – and other women of her age – to paint a portrait of a little girl from a working-class family who, after marriage at the age of eighteen and an attempted homicide, left her island to begin a new life in Eighties London.
Spanning periods of social change, the loves of Alice form a common thread in a process of personal and collective emancipation, in which everyone can find resonance: «I love telling stories that address people directly – said Zeldin –, without constructs, without intermediaries; stories that put them on guard, touch them profoundly. They are always stories based on reality».
Duration: 115’ without intermission
Alice was born in 1943. She is Australian, and an activist. But what else do we know of her existence? What does her son, Alexander Zeldin, know?
In The Confessions, the English dramaturg and director has drawn on hours of conversation with his mother – and other women of her age – to paint a portrait of a little girl from a working-class family who, after marriage at the age of eighteen and an attempted homicide, left her island to begin a new life in Eighties London.
Spanning periods of social change, the loves of Alice form a common thread in a process of personal and collective emancipation, in which everyone can find resonance: «I love telling stories that address people directly – said Zeldin –, without constructs, without intermediaries; stories that put them on guard, touch them profoundly. They are always stories based on reality».
Duration: 115’ without intermission
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
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© Alípio Padilha
Credits
The Confessions
ITALIAN PREMIERE
written and directed by Alexander Zeldin
with Amelda Brown, Kate Duchêne, Jerry Killick, Lilit Lesser, Brian Lipson, Hannah Morrish, Gabrielle Scawthorn, Jacob Warner, Yasser Zadeh
set and costume design Marg Horwell
choreographer and movement director Imogen Knight
lighting Paule Constable
composer Yannis Philippakis
sound designer Josh Anio Grigg
casting director Jacob Sparrow
dramaturgs Faye Merralls, Sasha Milavic Davies
associate director Joanna Pidcock
intimacy coordinator Kat Hardman – EK Intimacy
voice director Cathleen McCarron
dialect coaches Louise Jones, Jenny Kent
an A Zeldin Company/Compagnie A Zeldin Production
co-commissioned by National Theatre, RISING Melbourne, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
co-produced by Wiener Festwochen, Comédie de Genève, Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, Centro Cultural de Belém, Théâtre de Liège, Festival d’Avignon, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Adelaide Festival, Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen
the production is supported by Nancy and Michael Timmers, David Schwimmer, Cas Donald, Elisabeth de Kergorlay, Mazdak Rassi and Zanna Roberts Rassi, Andrew and Raquel Segal, Victoria Reese and Greg Kennedy, Studio Indigo Architects & Interior Designers
A Zeldin Company is supported by The Astra Foundation
Compagnie A Zeldin is supported by the French Ministry of Culture (DRAC Île-de-France)
Alexander Zeldin is an Associate Artist at the National Theatre, Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, and Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen
The play contains male and female nudity and off-stage depiction of sexual violence which people may find distressing; loud music is played during the scene changes
A show in English with Italian surtitles by Prescott Studio
Until row 5 of the stalls, the readability of the surtitles is not optimal
Tickets
Stalls full price € 40 | For the young and elderly (under 26 or over 65) € 23
Balcony full price € 32 | For the young and elderly (under 26 or over 65) € 20
Subscriptions
Subscriptions are nominal and allow to choose from all of the Festival shows, with the exception of the shows Frankenstein and Limited Edition.
FESTIVAL SUBSCRIPTION 2 SHOWS
Full price € 45 | Discounted (under 26 or over 65) € 36
FESTIVAL SUBSCRIPTION 4 SHOWS
Full price € 75 | Discounted (under 26 or over 65) € 60
Subscription tickets provide for the assigning of seats according to availability for the chosen date and show. Tickets cannot be substituted or refunded.
Classic, ORO and Card Natale subscriptions for the 2023/24 season can be used for the Festival shows.
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Organised groups and audiences
For information on tickets for organised groups:
tel. +39 02 72 333 216
email promozione.pubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it
